Microbial fuel cell-assisted composting yields higher performance on metals passivation, antibiotics degradation, and resistance genes removal.

Little scientific evidence on metal passivation, antibiotic degradation and resistance genes removal, is available under autogenetic electrochemical reactions during composting process. This study established microbial fuel cell (MFC)-assisted composting procedure to ascertain the removal performance and detoxification mechanisms involving metals, antibiotics and their resistance genes. Compared to control treatment, the bioavailability of zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu) in MFC-assisted treatment decreased by 7.8% and 26.9%, while the content of tetracycline (TCL) and oxytetracycline (OCL) reduced by 100% and 89%, respectively. Organics mineralization and humification were responsible for 80% and 70% of the variations in metal passivation and antibiotic degradation during composting process. A decrease of 54% was found for tetW gene, while copA gene increased by 42% in MFC-assisted composting treatment. These findings highlight the detoxification mechanisms underlying metal passivation and antibiotic degradation during composting process, and potentially offer valuable insights for environmental source protection and agricultural sustainable development.