4.5 Review

The Complex Interplay Between Antibiotic Resistance and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in the Environment

Related references

Note: Only part of the references are listed.
Review Environmental Sciences

Framework for establishing regulatory guidelines to control antibiotic resistance in treated effluents

Celia M. Manaia

Summary: Antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to human health and well-being. Wastewater treatment plants in urban areas receive a high concentration of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes, which continue to be discharged into the environment. These contaminants can replicate and transfer genes, and are more likely to thrive in deteriorated environments. They can also be transported through water, increasing the risk of exposure to humans. Regular wastewater monitoring is necessary to assess antibiotic resistance and implement corrective measures.

CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (2023)

Review Microbiology

Natural recreational waters and the risk that exposure to antibiotic resistant bacteria poses to human health

Anne F. C. Leonard et al.

Summary: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to human health and prosperity. Understanding the impact of environmental AMR on human health is challenging due to the complex interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. This review focuses on antibiotic resistant bacteria in natural bathing waters and their implications for human health. The limitations of current evidence and research priorities are discussed, highlighting the need for future studies to include contaminated bathing waters and individuals exposed to these environments to accurately assess environment-to-human transmission.

CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY (2022)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Remobilization of pollutants during extreme flood events poses severe risks to human and environmental health

Sarah E. Crawford et al.

Summary: While the frequency and intensity of floods are increasing globally, the indirect effects of pollutants remobilized and redistributed during flood events are often overlooked. A global examination of floods caused by extreme events and the subsequent distribution of sediment-bound pollutants is essential to improve interdisciplinary investigations and develop action plans to address environmental pollution issues from flooding. Action plans for river basins and coastal lowlands need to balance flood retention, catchment conservation, and economical water use.

JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS (2022)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Emergence of methicillin resistance predates the clinical use of antibiotics

Jesper Larsen et al.

Summary: This study reveals that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains were present in European hedgehogs before the discovery of antibiotics and have spread among hedgehog populations and between hedgehogs and secondary hosts. The study also shows that the hedgehog dermatophyte Trichophyton erinacei produces two beta-lactam antibiotics that give an advantage to MRSA strains. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding and managing antibiotic resistance in both wild animals and different ecosystems.

NATURE (2022)

Review Microbiology

Antibiotic resistance in the environment

D. G. Joakim Larsson et al.

Summary: Antibiotic resistance is a global health challenge, with factors driving evolution and transmission being important to quantify and identify. The environment plays a crucial role, and understanding and managing the resistance crisis can be achieved through implementing monitoring and assessment methods to reduce risks.

NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY (2022)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers

John L. Wilkinson et al.

Summary: Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on ecosystems and human health. A global-scale study of API pollution in rivers highlights the highest concentrations in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America, primarily in low- to middle-income countries with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure. The most frequently detected APIs include carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine, with some concentrations exceeding safe levels for aquatic organisms. Pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health and has implications for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2022)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Overgrowth control of potentially hazardous bacteria during storage of ozone treated wastewater through natural competition

Sara Ribeirinho-Soares et al.

Summary: Improving the quality of treated wastewater is crucial in water-stressed regions. This study explores the potential of using a diverse bacterial community to prevent the overgrowth of harmful bacteria in ozone treated wastewater during storage. The results show that the diluted samples with the added bacterial community had diverse bacterial composition and did not show an increase in antibiotic resistance genes.

WATER RESEARCH (2022)

Article Ecology

Solutions in microbiome engineering: prioritizing barriers to organism establishment

Michaeline B. N. Albright et al.

Summary: Microbiome engineering is increasingly utilized to address challenges in health, agriculture, and climate, but the failure to consider barriers to organism establishment, particularly in terms of biotic interactions, may hinder the long-term success of engineering solutions.

ISME JOURNAL (2022)

Article Environmental Sciences

Existing evidence on antibiotic resistance exposure and transmission to humans from the environment: a systematic map

Isobel Catherine Stanton et al.

Summary: This study created two systematic maps summarizing the global transmission of antibiotic resistance from the natural environment to humans and the state of antibiotic resistance in the UK environment. The results showed that consumption/ingestion was the most studied transmission route and E. coli was the most highly studied bacterium. The research focus was mainly on aquatic environments.

ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE (2022)

Article Environmental Sciences

Comprehensive assessment of chemical residues in surface and wastewater using passive sampling, chemical, biological, and fish behavioral assays

Laura D. Brunelle et al.

Summary: This study examined the influence of wastewater discharge on the concentrations of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and their ecological impacts on fish by analyzing effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants, surface water samples from the Hudson River, and wild-caught fish samples. The results showed the presence of various chemical residues in the wastewater, with high concentrations of pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, and pesticides. The fish exposed to the effluents exhibited hyperactivity, and the occurrence of endocrine disruption in fish collected from the Hudson River was significantly higher compared to a reference site. The combined use of POCIS and non-target analysis improved the detection of CECs and provided insights into the impacts of wastewater treatment plant effluents and agricultural practices on surface water quality.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2022)

Article Food Science & Technology

Role played by the environment in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the food chain

Konstantinos Koutsoumanis et al.

Summary: The study evaluated the role of food-producing environments in the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in EU plant-based food production, terrestrial animals, and aquaculture. It identified key sources and transmission routes, highlighting the importance of fecal fertilizers, irrigation, and water sources. Highest priority bacteria and genes were identified in various sources, emphasizing the need for mitigation measures and data on ARB and ARG diversity. Further epidemiological studies on AMR and its control in food production environments at the EU level are urgently needed.

EFSA JOURNAL (2021)

Article Public, Environmental & Occupational Health

One Health drivers of antibacterial resistance: Quantifying the relative impacts of human, animal and environmental use and transmission

Ross D. Booton et al.

Summary: The study model predicts that human antibacterial use is the most important factor in reducing human colonization with resistant bacteria. The NSP-AMR plan in Thailand is projected to reduce human colonization by 6.0-18.8%, with more ambitious targets increasing this to 8.5-24.9%.

ONE HEALTH (2021)

Article Ecology

Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals promote the transmission of multidrug resistance plasmids through intra- and intergenera conjugation

Yue Wang et al.

Summary: Non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals, commonly consumed at clinically and environmentally relevant concentrations, have been shown to significantly accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance through plasmid-mediated bacterial conjugation. These drugs induce responses in bacteria similar to those caused by exposure to antibiotics, highlighting the potential for non-antibiotic pharmaceuticals to enhance the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes among bacterial populations.

ISME JOURNAL (2021)

Article Environmental Sciences

Evidence that watershed nutrient management practices effectively reduce estrogens in environmental waters

Shuiwang Duan et al.

Summary: This study evaluated the impacts of different nutrient management strategies on managing estrogens and nutrients in environmental waters. Results showed that best management practices in urban and agricultural areas significantly reduced concentrations of estrogens and nutrients from nonpoint sources, while wastewater treatment plant upgrades and CSO management effectively removed estrogens entering water bodies.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2021)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Hidden Resistome: Enrichment Reveals the Presence of Clinically Relevant Antibiotic Resistance Determinants in Treated Wastewater-Irrigated Soils

Roberto B. M. Marano et al.

Summary: Treated-wastewater irrigation can transfer antibiotic-resistant bacteria to soil, but their persistence is generally low due to the resilience of the soil microbiome. However, these bacteria and associated antibiotic resistance genes may persist below detection levels and potentially proliferate under copiotrophic conditions. The study demonstrates that short-term enrichment strategies can be applied for environmental antimicrobial risk assessment in the future.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2021)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Dawning of a new ERA: Environmental Risk Assessment of antibiotics and their potential to select for antimicrobial resistance

Aimee K. Murray et al.

Summary: Antibiotics and antimicrobials are widely used, misused and overused in human and veterinary medicine, animal husbandry and aquaculture, potentially leading to the enrichment of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in the environment. There is a need to develop a new methodology for environmental risk assessment to ensure that diffuse and point source discharges are safe choices.

WATER RESEARCH (2021)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Rethinking water treatment targets: Bacteria regrowth under unprovable conditions

Nuno F. F. Moreira et al.

Summary: Ozonation is an effective technology for removing contaminants from urban wastewater, but regrowth of bacteria may occur after storage due to the surviving cells' ability to adapt to nutrient-poor environments. Analysis of antibiotic resistance genes in ozonated wastewater highlights the need for wastewater treatment technologies to consider the potential imbalance of bacterial communities and presence of antibiotic resistance genes.

WATER RESEARCH (2021)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

An omics-based framework for assessing the health risk of antimicrobial resistance genes

An-Ni Zhang et al.

Summary: Antibiotic resistance genes are common among bacteria, but not all pose high risks to human health. Researchers have developed an omics-based framework to rank these genes by risk, taking into account their enrichment in human associated environments, gene mobility, and host pathogenicity.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2021)

Article Microbiology

Longitudinal study on the effects of growth-promoting and therapeutic antibiotics on the dynamics of chicken cloacal and litter microbiomes and resistomes

Chhedi Lal Gupta et al.

Summary: The study found that antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes were present in chicken regardless of antibiotic use, with environment and growth stage being key factors in the variation of microbiomes and resistomes. Bacitracin and enrofloxacin had varying effects on the AMR in broilers.

MICROBIOME (2021)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Optimized suspect screening approach for a comprehensive assessment of the impact of best management practices in reducing micropollutants transport in the Potomac River watershed

Mary Grace E. Guardian et al.

Summary: This study focused on a wide-scope detection of micropollutants in surface water samples from the Potomac River watershed, detecting 103 micropollutants, some of which were previously unmonitored contaminants. The potential of best management practices for nitrogen and phosphorus reductions in reducing micropollutant transport was also assessed, revealing the potential to co manage a diverse array of micropollutants based on shared transport and transformation mechanisms in watersheds.

WATER RESEARCH X (2021)

Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

CARD 2020: antibiotic resistome surveillance with the comprehensive antibiotic resistance database

Brian P. Alcock et al.

NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH (2020)

Review Microbiology

Farm animals and aquaculture: significant reservoirs of mobile colistin resistance genes

Yingbo Shen et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY (2020)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Impact of Redox Conditions on Antibiotic Resistance Conjugative Gene Transfer Frequency and Plasmid Fate in Wastewater Ecosystems

Mui-Choo Jong et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2020)

Article Environmental Sciences

Selective concentrations for trimethoprim resistance in aquatic environments

Nadine Kraupner et al.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2020)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Assessing pharmaceutical removal and reduction in toxicity provided by advanced wastewater treatment systems

Luisa F. Angeles et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY (2020)

Article Environmental Sciences

Reducing aquatic micropollutants - Increasing the focus on input prevention and integrated emission management

Klaus Kuemmerer et al.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2019)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Global monitoring of antimicrobial resistance based on metagenomics analyses of urban sewage

Rene S. Hendriksen et al.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2019)

Review Environmental Sciences

One Health - Cycling of diverse microbial communities as a connecting force for soil, plant, animal, human and ecosystem health

Ariena H. C. van Bruggen et al.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2019)

Review Infectious Diseases

Carbapenem and colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae in Southeast Asia: Review and mapping of emerging and overlapping challenges

Marissa D. Malchione et al.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

A conceptual framework for the environmental surveillance of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance

Patricia M. C. Huijbers et al.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2019)

Review Microbiology

Defining and combating antibiotic resistance from One Health and Global Health perspectives

Sara Hernando-Amado et al.

NATURE MICROBIOLOGY (2019)

Review Environmental Sciences

A critical review of synthetic chemicals in surface waters of the US, the EU and China

Wendi Fang et al.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

Antibiotic resistance gene distribution in agricultural fields and crops. A soil-to-food analysis

Francisco Cerqueira et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH (2019)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Spatial ecology of a wastewater network defines the antibiotic resistance genes in downstream receiving waters

Marcos Quintela-Baluja et al.

WATER RESEARCH (2019)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Fecal pollution can explain antibiotic resistance gene abundances in anthropogenically impacted environments

Antti Karkman et al.

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2019)

Article Environmental Sciences

Antibiotics and common antibacterial biocides stimulate horizontal transfer of resistance at low concentrations

J. Jutkina et al.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2018)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Extensive impact of non-antibiotic drugs on human gut bacteria

Lisa Maier et al.

NATURE (2018)

Article Environmental Sciences

Concentrations of antibiotics predicted to select for resistant bacteria: Proposed limits for environmental regulation

Johan Bengtsson-Palme et al.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2016)

Article Infectious Diseases

Aquaculture as yet another environmental gateway to the development and globalisation of antimicrobial resistance

Felipe C. Cabello et al.

LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES (2016)

Review Environmental Sciences

Ecotoxicological assessment of antibiotics: A call for improved consideration of microorganisms

Kristian K. Brandt et al.

ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL (2015)

Article Biology

The SOS response increases bacterial fitness, but not evolvability, under a sublethal dose of antibiotic

Clara Torres-Barcelo et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (2015)

Article Environmental Sciences

Occurrence and in-stream attenuation of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in Iberian rivers

Vicenc Acuna et al.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT (2015)

Review Microbiology

What is a resistance gene? Ranking risk in resistomes

Jose L. Martinez et al.

NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY (2015)

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Microbial diversity determines the invasion of soil by a bacterial pathogen

Jan Dirk van Elsas et al.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2012)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Antibiotic Resistance Gene Abundances Associated with Waste Discharges to the Almendares River near Havana, Cuba

David W. Graham et al.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2011)

Review Microbiology

Persistence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations

Dan I. Andersson et al.

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS (2011)

Review Microbiology

Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

Julian Davies et al.

MICROBIOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY REVIEWS (2010)

Article Engineering, Environmental

Effluent from drug manufactures contains extremely high levels of pharmaceuticals

D. G. Joakim Larsson et al.

JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS (2007)

Article Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science

Antibiotic use in animal agriculture: What have we learned and where are we going?

Scott A. McEwen

ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY (2006)