title: Occurrence and removal of antibiotics and the corresponding resistance genes in wastewater treatment plants: effluents' influence to downstream water environment.
abstract: In this study, the occurrence of 8 antibiotics [3 tetracyclines (TCs), 4 sulfonamides, and 1 trimethoprim (TMP)], 12 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (10 tet, 2 sul), 4 types of bacteria [no antibiotics, anti-TC, anti-sulfamethoxazole (SMX), and anti-double], and intI1 in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were assessed and their influences in downstream lake were investigated. Both WWTPs' effluent demonstrated some similarities, but the abundance and removal rate varied significantly. Results revealed that biological treatment mainly removed antibiotics and ARGs, whereas physical techniques were found to eliminate antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARBs) abundance (about 1 log for each one). UV disinfection did not significantly enhance the removal efficiency, and the release of the abundantly available target contaminants from the excess sludge may pose threats to human and the environment. Different antibiotics showed diverse influences on the downstream lake, and the concentrations of sulfamethazine (SM2) and SMX were observed to increase enormously. The total ARG abundance ascended about 0.1 log and some ARGs (e.g., tetC, intI1, tetA) increased due to the high input of the effluent. In addition, the abundance of ARB variation in the lake also changed, but the abundance of four types of bacteria remained stable in the downstream sampling sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jianan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Weixiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Like
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Abbottabad, 22060, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Shams Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Baig
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China. chen_hong@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D060106:Lakes / Q000382:microbiology; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology; D013754:Tetracyclines / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology; D014295:Trimethoprim / Q000032:analysis / Q000494:pharmacology; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012722:Sewage; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole; D013449:Sulfonamides; D013754:Tetracyclines; D014295:Trimethoprim; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Occurrence; Removal; Wastewater treatment plant