Evidence of mutations conferring resistance to clarithromycin in wastewater and activated sludge

Wide-Scope Target and Suspect Screening of Antibiotics in Effluent Wastewater from Wastewater Treatment Plants in Europe

The occurrence of antibiotics in the environment could result in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which could result in a public health crisis. The occurrence of 676 antibiotics and the main transformation products (TPs) was investigated in the 48 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) from 11 countries (Germany, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Cyprus, and Greece) by target and suspect screening. Target screening involved the investigation of antibiotics with reference standards (40 antibiotics). Suspect screening covered 676 antibiotics retrieved from the NORMAN Substance Database (antibiotic list on NORMAN network). Forty-seven antibiotics were detected in effluent wastewater samples: thirty-two by target screening and fifteen additional ones by suspect screening. An ecotoxicological risk assessment was performed based on occurrence data and predicted no effect concentration (PNEC), which involved the derivation of frequency of appearance (FoA), frequency of PNEC exceedance (FoE), and extent of PNEC exceedance (EoE). Azithromycin, erythromycin, clarithromycin, ofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were prioritized as the calculated risk score was above 1. The median of antibiotics' load to freshwater ecosystems was 0.59 g/day/WWTP. The detection of antibiotics across countries indicates the presence of antibiotics in the ecosystems of Europe, which may trigger unwanted responses from the ecosystem, including antibiotic resistance.

Cometabolic biodegradation of antibiotics by ammonia oxidizing microorganisms during wastewater treatment processes

Studies on antibiotic removal during wastewater treatment processes are crucial since their release into the environment could bring potential threats to human health and ecosystem. Cometabolic biodegradation of antibiotics by ammonia oxidizing microorganisms (AOMs) has received special attentions due to the enhanced removal of antibiotics during nitrification processes. However, the interactions between antibiotics and AOMs are less well-elucidated. In this review, the recent research proceedings on cometabolic biodegradation of antibiotics by AOMs were summarized. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) played significant roles in both nitrification and cometabolic biodegradation of antibiotics. Antibiotics at varying concentrations might pose inhibiting or stimulating effect on AOMs, influencing the microbial activity, community abundance and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A gene expression level. AOMs-induced cometabolic biodegradation products were analyzed as well as the corresponding pathways for each type of antibiotics. The effects of ammonium availability, initial antibiotic concentration, sludge retention time and temperature were assessed on the cometabolic biodegradation efficiencies of antibiotics. This work might provide further insights into the fate and removal of antibiotics during nitrification processes.

Rationale for the Combined Use of Biological Processes and AOPs in Wastewater Treatment Tasks

This paper aims to form a unified concept of the integrated use of different wastewater treatment methods to form a resistant biological treatment stage of technological systems under the influence of such toxic factors as antibiotics and surfactants. The processes of mechanical treatment, ozonation, UV irradiation, and electrolytic anodic oxidation were implemented in an electrotechnological wastewater treatment facility. Wastewater treatment quality was determined by the concentration of nitrogen compounds in aqueous solutions according to the method of Lurie. Biodiagnostics of the investigated activated sludge via surfactant action was carried out at polyethylene oxide concentrations of 10, 30, and 50 mg/dm3. As a result of experiments on wastewater treatment after aquaculture, an improvement in the reduction of pollutants only by the indicator “nitrate concentration” was determined: by 20% after anodic oxidation, and by 15% after photolysis. At almost all surfactant concentrations studied, the activated sludge was not completely recovered, which was expressed in a decrease in its quantity and in the inability to aggregate flakes of activated sludge. The diameter of the growth retardation of the standard disk with antibiotic (amoxiclav) by the accumulative culture of activated sludge was 17.3 ± 2 mm at a concentration of 4 mg/dm3 and 31.3 ± 3 mm at a concentration of 6 mg/dm3. In the process of studying the state of the activated sludge’s biocenosis under the influence of such toxicants, several regularities were revealed. The directions of using combined approaches of water treatment and wastewater treatment were defined. The structural model of treatment facilities using aerobic and anaerobic bioprocesses together with advanced oxidative technologies was substantiated.