Effect of earthworms in reduction and fate of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) during clinical laboratory wastewater treatment by vermifiltration

2021 ◽  
Vol 773 ◽  
pp. 145152
Author(s):  
Sudipti Arora ◽  
Sakshi Saraswat ◽  
Ankur Rajpal ◽  
Harshita Shringi ◽  
Rinki Mishra ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudipti Arora ◽  
Sakshi Saraswat ◽  
Ankur Rajpal ◽  
Harshita Shringi ◽  
Rinki Mishra ◽  
...  

AbstractThe wastewater treatment plants effluent has been implicated in the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) as these environment contains multiple selective pressures that may increase mutation rates, pathogen survivability, and induce gene transfer between bacteria. In lieu of this, the present study explored the dynamics of earthworm-microorganisms interactions on the treatment efficacy of clinical laboratory wastewater treatment by vermifiltration and the effect of earthworms in the fate of removal of pathogens and ARB. The results of the study showed that earthworms and VF associated microbial community had a significant effect on BOD and COD reduction (78-85%), pathogen removal (>99.9 %) and caused a significant shift in the prevalence pattern of ARB. Additionally, molecular profiling of ESBL (blaSHV, blaTEM and blaCTX-M), MRSA (mec-A) and Colistin (mcr-1) gene confirmed the probable mechanisms behind the resistance pattern. The microbial community diversity assists in the formation of biofilm, which helps in the removal of pathogens and results in a paradigm shift in the resistance profile of ARB and ARG, specifically most effective against drugs, targeting cell wall and protein synthesis inhibition like Ampicillin, Ticarcillin, Gentamicin and Chloramphenicol. These findings prove vermifiltration technology as a sustainable and natural treatment technology for clinical laboratory wastewater.


Author(s):  
Maria Clara V. M. Starling ◽  
Elizângela P. Costa ◽  
Felipe A. Souza ◽  
Elayne C. Machado ◽  
Juliana Calábria de Araujo ◽  
...  

AbstractThis work investigated an innovative alternative to improve municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent (MWWTP effluent) quality aiming at the removal of contaminants of emerging concern (caffeine, carbendazim, and losartan potassium), and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), as well as disinfection (E. coli). Persulfate was used as an alternative oxidant in the solar photo-Fenton process (solar/Fe/S2O82−) due to its greater stability in the presence of matrix components. The efficiency of solar/Fe/S2O82− at neutral pH using intermittent iron additions is unprecedented in the literature. At first, solar/Fe/S2O82− was performed in a solar simulator (30 W m−2) leading to more than 60% removal of CECs, and the intermittent iron addition strategy was proved effective. Then, solar/Fe/S2O82− and solar/Fe/H2O2 were compared in semi-pilot scale in a raceway pond reactor (RPR) and a cost analysis was performed. Solar/Fe/S2O82− showed higher efficiencies of removal of target CECs (55%), E. coli (3 log units), and ARB (3 to 4 log units) within 1.9 kJ L−1 of accumulated irradiation compared to solar/Fe/H2O2 (CECs, 49%; E. coli, 2 log units; ARB, 1 to 3 log units in 2.5 kJ L−1). None of the treatments generated acute toxicity upon Allivibrio fischeri. Lower total cost was obtained using S2O82− (0.6 € m−3) compared to H2O2 (1.2 € m−3). Therefore, the iron intermittent addition aligned to the use of persulfate is suitable for MWWTP effluent quality improvement at neutral pH.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Camila Zapata Zúñiga ◽  
Miguel Angel Parra-Pérez ◽  
Johan Alexander Álvarez-Berrio ◽  
Nidia Isabel Molina-Gómez

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of technologies for removing antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their antibiotic resistance genes, and the countries where they have been developed. For this purpose, was conducted a systematic review to identify the tertiary treatments to remove the above-mentioned pollutants. The ScienceDirect and Scopus databases were used as sources of information, taking into account only experimental research from 2006 to 2019 and technologies with removal rates higher than 70% to the information analyses. From the analysis of 9 technologies evaluated, in a set of 47 investigations, photo-Fenton, and electrochemical treatments were found to be the most efficient in the removal of antibiotics; gamma radiation and photocatalysis with TiO2 and UV revealed better results in the removal of resistant microbial agents and their resistance genes, with efficiencies of 99.9%. As one of the largest producers and consumers of antibiotics, China appears to be the country with the most scientific research on the area. The importance of innovation in wastewater treatment processes to achieve better results in the remotion of antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and their resistance genes is highlighted, given the effects on the aquatic ecosystems and public health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 00061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Osińska ◽  
Ewa Korzeniewska ◽  
Monika Harnisz ◽  
Sebastian Niestępski ◽  
Piotr Jachimowicz

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are major reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) which are transported to the natural environment with discharged effluents. Samples of untreated wastewater (UWW) and treated wastewater (TWW) from four municipal WWTPs and samples of river water collected upstream (URW) and downstream (DRW) from the effluent discharge point were analyzed in the study. The total counts of bacteria resistant to β-lactams and tetracyclines and the counts of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli were determined. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including antibiotic-resistant E. coli, were removed with up to 99.9% efficiency in the evaluated WWTPs. Despite the above, ARB counts in TWW samples were high at up to 1.25x105 CFU/mL in winter and 1.25x103 CFU/mL in summer. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were also abundant (up to 103 CFU/ml) in URW and DRW samples collected in winter and summer. In both UWW and TWW samples, the counts of ARB and antibiotic-resistant E. coli were at least one order of magnitude lower in summer than in winter. The study revealed that despite the high efficiency of bacterial removal in the wastewater treatment processes, considerable amounts of ARB are released into the environment with TWW and that the percentage of ARB in total bacterial counts increases after wastewater treatment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document