Untreated HWWs Emerged as Hotpots for ARGs

Kayali O., İçgen B.

Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, vol.104, no.3, pp.386-392, 2020 (Journal Indexed in SCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 104 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2020
  • Doi Number: 10.1007/s00128-020-02792-2
  • Title of Journal : Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
  • Page Numbers: pp.386-392
  • Keywords: ARG, HWW, Antibiotic resistance genes, Hospital wastewaters, ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE GENES, CTX-M, BETA-LACTAMASES, STREPTOGRAMIN-B, DISSEMINATION, STEWARDSHIP, SULFONAMIDE, INFECTIONS, PREVALENCE, MECHANISMS

Abstract

Hospital wastewaters (HWWs) are reported to be hotspots for antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, limited information involves the impact of these effluents on dissemination of antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, therefore, seasonally collected HWWs were monitored for overall bacterial load and seven ARGs aadA, tetA, cmlA, sul1, qnrS, ermB and bla CTX-M by using quantitative polymerase chain reaction method. Overall bacterial 16S rRNA copy number was found to be the lowest in winter with 103 copy number/mL, while the highest copy number, with 105 copy number/mL, was observed in both summer and spring. All hospitals tested displayed similar seasonal ARG copy number profile of aadA > tetA > cmlA ≈ sul1 > ermB ≈ qnrS > bla CTX-M. The results indicated that untreated HWWs were hotspots for ARGs and required attention before discharging into public sewer.