Antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants: understanding the problem and future perspectives
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants: understanding the problem and future perspectives Bárbara W. N. Grehs1 · Maria A. O. Linton2 · Barbara Clasen1,3 · Andressa de Oliveira Silveira1 · Elvis Carissimi1 Received: 4 June 2020 / Revised: 2 October 2020 / Accepted: 13 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Antibiotics residues (AR), antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) are a new class of water contaminants, due to their adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. Contamination of water bodies occurs mainly by the excretion of antibiotics incompletely metabolized by humans and animals and is considered the main source of contamination of antibiotics in the environment. Given the imminent threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized the spread of antibiotics as one of the top three threats to public health in the twenty-first century. The Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (UWWTP) bring together AR, ARB, ARG, making the understanding of this peculiar environment fundamental for the investigation of technologies aimed at combating the spread of bacterial resistance. Several methodologies have been employed focusing on reducing the ARB and ARG loads of the effluents, however the reactivation of these microorganisms after the treatment is widely reported. This work aims to elucidate the role of UWWTPs in the spread of bacterial resistance, as well as to report the efforts that have been made so far and future perspectives to combat this important global problem. Keywords Wastewater treatment · Antibiotic resistant bacteria · Antibiotic resistance genes
Introduction Wastewater treatment plants—WWTP are fundamental for sustainable development and human health. They ensure the removal of debris, high organic loads, and effluent pathogens before they are discharged into the environment through receiving bodies (rivers, lakes and sea). The benefits of WWTP implementation include avoiding eutrophication of recipient water bodies and the spread of potentially harmful microorganisms (Henze et al. 2008). However, advances Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt. * Barbara Clasen barbara‑[email protected] 1
Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima 1000, CT Lab, Santa Maria, RS 97105‑900, Brazil
2
Department of Biology, Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Av. Roraima 1000, CE, Santa Maria, RS 97105‑900, Brazil
3
Department of Environmental Science, State University of Rio Grande Do Sul (UERGS), R. Cipriano Barata, 211, Três Passos, RS 98600‑000, Brazil
in analysis methodologies as well as treatment technologies indicate that the complexity of effluents (which may contain recalcitrant chemicals, persistent micro-pollutants and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms) creates new challenges for efficient wastewater treatment, and demonstrates that improvements are needed to produce final effluents that will effectiv
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