Antibiotic resistance genes in municipal wastewater treatment systems and receiving waters in Arctic Canada

Domestic wastewater discharges may adversely impact arctic ecosystems and local indigenous people, who rely on being able to hunt and harvest food from their local environment. Therefore, there is a need to develop efficient wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which can be operated in remote commun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2017-11, Vol.598, p.1085-1094
Main Authors: Neudorf, Kara D., Huang, Yan Nan, Ragush, Colin M., Yost, Christopher K., Jamieson, Rob C., Truelstrup Hansen, Lisbeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Antibiotic resistant bacteria
Arctic communities
ARG enrichment
Drug Resistance, Bacterial - genetics
Environmental Monitoring
Genes, Bacterial
Mechanical filtration
Nunavut
Quantitative PCR
Waste stabilization ponds
Waste Water - microbiology
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Summary:Domestic wastewater discharges may adversely impact arctic ecosystems and local indigenous people, who rely on being able to hunt and harvest food from their local environment. Therefore, there is a need to develop efficient wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), which can be operated in remote communities under extreme climatic conditions. WWTPs have been identified as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The objective of this work was to quantify the presence of nine different ARG markers (int1, sul1, sul2, tet(O), erm(B), mecA, blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and qnr(S)) in two passive systems (waste stabilization ponds [WSPs]) and one mechanical filtration plant operating in two smaller and one large community, respectively, in Nunavut, Canada. Measurement of water quality parameters (carbonaceous oxygen demand, ammonia, total suspended solids, Escherichia coli and total coliforms) showed that the WWTPs provided only primary treatment. Low levels of the ARGs (2logcopies/mL) were observed in the effluent, demonstrating that bacteria residing in three northern WWTPs harbour ARGs conferring resistance to multiple clinically-relevant classes of antibiotics. Our results indicate that long-term storage in WSPs benefitted removal of organic material and some ARGs. However, one WSP system showed evidence of the enrichment of sul1, sul2, mecA, tet(O) and qnr(S). Further research is needed to fully understand if these ARG releases pose a risk to human health, especially in the context of traditional hunting and fishing activities. [Display omitted] (Photo credits: Lisbeth Truelstrup Hansen, artwork: Lisbeth Truelstrup Hansen) •Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in arctic wastewater treatment were investigated.•Raw wastewater, effluent discharge and immediate receiving waters contained ARGs.•Relative abundance of ARGs increased in one waste stabilization pond (WSP) system.•Long term stay in arctic WSPs may promote transfer of ARGs among microorganisms.•ARGs in the effluent highlight the need to assess human risk in arctic communities.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.151