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Puljko A, Milaković M, Križanović S, Kosić-Vukšić J, Babić I, Petrić I, Maravić A, Jelić M, Udiković-Kolić N. Prevalence of enteric opportunistic pathogens and extended-spectrum cephalosporin- and carbapenem-resistant coliforms and genes in wastewater from municipal wastewater treatment plants in Croatia. J Hazard Mater 2022; 427:128155. [PMID: 34991006 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.128155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)- and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales are a critical global health problem and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can promote their spread into the environment; yet their efficacy is not well characterized. Here, we have used conventional culturing to monitor coliform bacteria and quantitative PCR to monitor 2 ESBL and 5 carbapenemase (CP) genes and 4 enteric opportunistic pathogens (EOPs) in the influent and effluent of 7 Croatian WWTPs in two seasons. In general, levels of total, cefotaxime- and carbapenem-resistant coliforms were significantly reduced but not eliminated by conventional treatment in most WWTPs. Most WWTPs efficiently removed EOPs such as K. pneumoniae and A. baumannii, while E. coli and Enterococcus spp. were reduced but still present in relatively high concentrations in the effluent. ESBL genes (blaTEM and blaCTX-M-32) were only slightly reduced or enriched after treatment. CP genes, blaKPC-3, blaNDM and blaOXA-48-like, were sporadically detected, while blaIMP and blaVIM were frequently enriched during treatment and correlated with plant size, number or size of hospitals in the catchment area, and COD effluent concentration. Our results suggest that improvements in wastewater treatment technologies are needed to minimize the risk of environmental contamination with top priority EOPs and ARGs and the resulting public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Puljko
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Milena Milaković
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Stela Križanović
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Josipa Kosić-Vukšić
- Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Mirogojska cesta 16, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivana Babić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ines Petrić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ana Maravić
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 33, 21 000 Split, Croatia
| | - Marko Jelić
- Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Mirogojska 8, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Nikolina Udiković-Kolić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia.
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Milaković M, Vestergaard G, González-Plaza JJ, Petrić I, Kosić-Vukšić J, Senta I, Kublik S, Schloter M, Udiković-Kolić N. Effects of industrial effluents containing moderate levels of antibiotic mixtures on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial community composition in exposed creek sediments. Sci Total Environ 2020; 706:136001. [PMID: 31855637 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2019] [Revised: 11/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Environmental discharges of very high (mg/L) antibiotic levels from pharmaceutical production contributed to the selection, spread and persistence of antibiotic resistance. However, the effects of less antibiotic-polluted effluents (μg/L) from drug-formulation on exposed aquatic microbial communities are still scarce. Here we analyzed formulation effluents and sediments from the receiving creek collected at the discharge site (DW0), upstream (UP) and 3000 m downstream of discharge (DW3000) during winter and summer season. Chemical analyses indicated the largest amounts of trimethoprim (up to 5.08 mg/kg) and azithromycin (up to 0.39 mg/kg) at DW0, but sulfonamides accumulated at DW3000 (total up to 1.17 mg/kg). Quantitative PCR revealed significantly increased relative abundance of various antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) against β-lactams, macrolides, sulfonamides, trimethoprim and tetracyclines in sediments from DW0, despite relatively high background levels of some ARGs already at UP site. However, only sulfonamide (sul2) and macrolide ARG subtypes (mphG and msrE) were still elevated at DW3000 compared to UP. Sequencing of 16S rRNA genes revealed pronounced changes in the sediment bacterial community composition from both DW sites compared to UP site, regardless of the season. Numerous taxa with increased relative abundance at DW0 decreased to background levels at DW3000, suggesting die-off or lack of transport of effluent-originating bacteria. In contrast, various taxa that were more abundant in sediments than in effluents increased in relative abundance at DW3000 but not at DW0, possibly due to selection imposed by high sulfonamide levels. Network analysis revealed strong correlation between some clinically relevant ARGs (e.g. blaGES, blaOXA, ermB, tet39, sul2) and taxa with elevated abundance at DW sites, and known to harbour opportunistic pathogens, such as Acinetobacter, Arcobacter, Aeromonas and Shewanella. Our results demonstrate the necessity for improved management of pharmaceutical and rural waste disposal for mitigating the increasing problems with antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milena Milaković
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Gisle Vestergaard
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Section for Bioinformatics, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Juan Jose González-Plaza
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ines Petrić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Josipa Kosić-Vukšić
- Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Mirogojska cesta 16, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivan Senta
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Susanne Kublik
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Michael Schloter
- Research Unit for Comparative Microbiome Analysis (COMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Nikolina Udiković-Kolić
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, P.O. Box 180, 10 002 Zagreb, Croatia.
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Žuntar I, Krivohlavek A, Kosić-Vukšić J, Granato D, Bursać Kovačević D, Putnik P. Pharmacological and toxicological health risk of food (herbal) supplements adulterated with erectile dysfunction medications. Curr Opin Food Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cofs.2018.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Bielen A, Šimatović A, Kosić-Vukšić J, Senta I, Ahel M, Babić S, Jurina T, González Plaza JJ, Milaković M, Udiković-Kolić N. Negative environmental impacts of antibiotic-contaminated effluents from pharmaceutical industries. Water Res 2017; 126:79-87. [PMID: 28923406 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 147] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2017] [Revised: 09/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Effluents from pharmaceutical industries are recognized as significant contributors to aquatic pollution with antibiotics. Although such pollution has been mostly reported in Asia, knowledge on industrial discharges in other regions of the world, including Europe, and on the effects associated with such exposures is still limited. Thus, we performed chemical, microbiological and ecotoxicological analyses of effluents from two Croatian pharmaceutical industries during four seasons. In treated effluents of the company synthesizing macrolide antibiotic azithromycin (AZI), the total concentration of AZI and two macrolide by-products from its synthesis was 1-3 orders of magnitude higher in winter and springtime (up to 10.5 mg/L) than during the other two seasons (up to 638 μg/L). Accordingly, the highest total concentrations (up to 30 μg/L) in the recipient river were measured in winter and spring. Effluents from second company formulating veterinary antibiotics contained fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim, sulfonamides and tetracyclines ranging from low μg/L to approx. 200 μg/L. Low concentrations of these antibiotics, from below the limit of quantification to approx. few μg/L, have also been measured in the recipient stream. High frequency of culturable bacteria resistant to AZI (up to 83%) or sulfamethazine (up to 90%) and oxytetracycline (up to 50%) were also found in studied effluents. Finally, we demonstrated that toxicity to algae and water fleas often exceeded the permitted values. Most highly contaminated effluents induced multiple abnormalities in zebrafish embryos. In conclusion, using a wide array of analyses we have demonstrated that discharges from pharmaceutical industries can pose a significant ecological and public health concern due to their toxicity to aquatic organisms and risks for promoting development and spread of antibiotic resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Bielen
- Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ana Šimatović
- Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Josipa Kosić-Vukšić
- Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute of Public Health, Mirogojska cesta 16, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivan Senta
- Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marijan Ahel
- Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Sanja Babić
- Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Tamara Jurina
- Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, Zagreb, Croatia
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