[Copper and cadmium toxicities to activated sludge investigated with ToxTell biosensor]

Effects of different concentrations of Cu2+, Cu2+ and Cd2+ combined pollution on the removal performance of COD in activated sludge system were investigated, and the ToxTell biosensor with activated sludge was constructed to determine the toxicity of Cu2+, Cu2+ and Cd2+ combined pollution. The results showed that there was no significant impact on the activated sludge process when Cu2+ concentration was lower than 10 mg x L(-1), and the addition of Cd2+ enhanced the inhibition of COD removal, and the maximum inhibition efficiency of COD reached at about 1.5 h. With the increase of aeration time, the COD removal efficiency increased slowly again. The toxicity measurement with ToxTell biosensor was close to the biological effects (inhibition efficiencies of COD), which showed that the ToxTell biosensor could be used well in the early warming determination of Cu2+ and Cd2+ in the activated sludge process.