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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Rebeca Pallares Vega, Emeritus Professor David Graham
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© 2025 Elsevier LtdThe transmission and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health concern. Thus, it is important to understand the fate of AMR in the environment, including resistant bacteria (ARBs) and their genes (ARGs), to reduce their wider spread. Well-operated wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an effective way of reducing ARGs and ARBs entering the environment, but how different technologies and WWTP operational capacities influence AMR releases is less well known. Here we quantified the fate of selected ARBs, heavy metals, ARGs (aph(3”)-Ib, blaCTX-M, blaNDM, ermF, qnrS, sul2 and tetW), intI1 (a mobile genetic element), the Escherichia coli uidA and the 16S rRNA genes through four different WWTPs discharging into the Musi River in Hyderabad, India. ARG removals ranged from 50 % to 99 %, depending on the gene, with sul2 levels remaining highest after treatment (∼106 copies/mL). Differences in ARG removals were seen between WWTPs, but it was hard to separate the effect of differing treatment technologies and plant capacity, partially because one of the WWTPs was overloaded. ARG removal efficiencies were significantly higher in the anaerobic and combined anaerobic-aerobic treatment systems compared with aerobic technologies alone (p < 0.01; Kruskal-Wallis test). For genes, no seasonal differences were found in influents, effluents and sludge, apart from uidA and blaCTX-M for the latter. The results underscore the complexity of defining ARG removal efficiency in WWTPs due to locally confounding factors such as capacity exceedance and the treatment technologies employed. “WWTPs” are not one thing and understanding how differences in technology, capacity, and the quality of operations affect AMR fate are key to ensuring that WWTPs reduce spread of AMR into the environment.
Author(s): Sonkar V, Kashyap A, Pallares-Vega R, Sasidharan SS, Chandrakalabai Jambu S, Naorem N, Graham DW, Kreft J-U, Thatikonda S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Environmental Management
Year: 2025
Volume: 395
Print publication date: 01/12/2025
Online publication date: 08/11/2025
Acceptance date: 01/11/2025
ISSN (print): 0301-4797
ISSN (electronic): 1095-8630
Publisher: Academic Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127897
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127897
PubMed id: 41207249
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