A review of the migration mechanism of antibiotics during struvite recovery from wastewater

•Interaction mechanics between antibiotics and struvite precipitation are reviewed.•Antibiotics in real streams are more sensitive to pH change than in synthetic wastewater.•DOM and ionic composition show larger influence on antibiotics’ transportation. Struvite precipitation and reuse from phosphorus-rich wastewater are cost-effective measures to improve phosphorus utilization efficiency and decrease its negative environmental impact. However, the presence of antibiotics may accumulate in recovered struvite, making it ecologically unsafe by spreading antibiotic resistance genes. In this review, the effects of antibiotics on struvite precipitation, and their participating mechanisms were investigated. The effects of pH, dissolved organic matter, and suspended solids were discussed and possible antibiotics minimization solutions were critically analyzed. It is concluded that antibiotic residue in struvite from real streams is more sensitive to pH change than synthetic wastewater, while dissolved organic matter promotes its accumulation. Among these influencing factors analyzed, dissolved organic matter and ionic composition show a larger influence on the transport of antibiotics into struvite, followed by pH and initial concentration of antibiotics. It is also highlighted that more efficient technology for antibiotics minimization during struvite formation should be developed to make the recovered struvite commercially available from the ecological safety perspective.