Ability of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for biological removal of ciprofloxacin antibiotic in aqueous solution

In recent years, the entry of antibiotics and their metabolites in the aquatic solutions becomes an important concern. Since the drug has not been completely removed in wastewater treatment plants, it goes to the aquatic solutions. Thus the necessity remove the drug before leaving wastewater treatment plants is essential. This research is a laboratory study. We studied the influence of variables factors on removal of ciprofloxacin antibiotic such as adsorbent dose (0.1-1mg/100ml), initial concentration antibiotic (5-20 mg/l), pH (4-10) and contact time (1-72 h) on adsorption process. Most of the experiments were done with 10 mg/l of initial antibiotic. Our results showed that the maximum removal of antibiotic efficiency was achieved at pH = 4, adsorbent dose 1 g/100 ml and contact time 24 hour. The removal efficiency is pH dependent. The contact time and also the amount of adsorbent increased the removal yield. The initial concentration of the antibiotic showed inversely relation with antibiotic removal.According to the results of this study Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be a suitable and economical candidate for the removal of ciprofloxacin antibiotic from aqueous solutions, with minimal technology.