ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2025
Chlorine disinfectant significantly changed microfauna habitat, community structure, and colonization mode in wastewater treatment plants.
Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, excessive chlorine disinfectants have been used to block the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2, resulting in large amounts of residual disinfectants entering wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) through sewage systems. So far, no relevant research has been conducted on the impact of chlorine disinfectants on microfauna, an important microbial component in activated sludge treatment systems. This study comprehensively investigated the changes in microfauna habitat, community structure, and colonization mode under the chlorine stress by combining the full-scale WWTP survey and laboratory-scale sequencing batch reactor experiments. The results showed that chlorine disinfectants significantly changed the community structure of microfauna, including decrease in sedentary ciliates and increase in free-living ciliates, amoebas, and flagellates. Besides the disinfection effect of chlorine disinfectants, the microfauna community was also influenced by changes in habitat and bacterial community. The loose structure and excessive extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of activated sludge caused by chlorination would impact the colonization of sedentary ciliates, while it was conducive to the survival of free-living ciliates due to their predation on EPS as the nutrients. Bacteria in the activated sludge had strong interactions with protozoa, and their changes under chlorine stress directly affected the protozoan community and even indirectly affected the micro-metazoa community through the food chain. IMPORTANCE: This study revealed that chlorine disinfectant significantly changed microfauna habitat, community structure, and colonization mode in wastewater treatment plants during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Chlorine disinfectant could destroy the structure and stability of sludge flocs, reduce the abundance of beneficial microfauna in activated sludge, and even affect the colonization of sedentary ciliates on sludge. In addition, chlorine disinfectants might induce environmental and ecological risks related to microfauna, such as elevated suspended solids and release of bacteria and microfauna in the effluents.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.