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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

The Caco-2 Cell Bioassay for Measurement of Food Iron Bioavailability
Published on: April 28, 2022
The digestibility of iron-dosed activated sludge
Jennifer A Smith1, Cynthia M Carliell-Marquet
1Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK. j.a.smith@cranfield.ac.uk
Abstract:
The impact of chemical phosphorus (P) removal on anaerobic digestion (AD) has long been debated, possibly because there is no general consensus of the definition of impaired AD, but also because of the different assessment methods used. This research surveyed 12 wastewater treatment plants to compare the relative digestibility of iron-dosed with undosed activated sludge during two batch test trials. Results showed that iron-dosed sludge negatively impacted AD by reducing the volume of biogas (12%) and methane (5.5%) produced from the same amount of volatile solids fed. Possible reasons for reduced biogas production include lower levels of bioavailable P and iron in iron-dosed sludge, which may hinder the ability of micro-organisms to metabolise organic substrate.
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