Elsevier

Water Research X

Volume 7, 1 May 2020, 100045
Water Research X

Hospital discharges in urban sanitation systems: Long-term monitoring of wastewater resistome and microbiota in relationship to their eco-exposome

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2020.100045Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Hospital and urban wastewater resistome and microbiota display specific signatures stable over time.

  • Hospital and urban wastewater have a distinct eco-exposome that is associated with their respective resistome and microbiota.

  • Mixing hospital with urban wastewater hides the " hospital signature” due to the dilution rate.

Abstract

Wastewaters (WW) are important sources for the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) into the environment. Hospital WW (HWW) contain higher loads of micro-pollutants and AMR markers than urban WW (UWW). Little is known about the long-term dynamics of H and U WW and the impact of their joined treatment on the general burden of AMR. Here, we characterized the resistome, microbiota and eco-exposome signature of 126 H and U WW samples treated separately for three years, and then mixed, over one year. Multi-variate analysis and machine learning revealed a robust signature for each WW with no significant variation over time before mixing, and once mixed, both WW closely resembled Urban signatures. We demonstrated a significant impact of pharmaceuticals and surfactants on the resistome and microbiota of H and U WW. Our results present considerable targets for AMR related risk assessment of WW.

Keywords

Hospital and urban wastewater
Antimicrobial resistance
Resistome (ARGs and MGEs)
Microbiota
WW signatures
Hospital and urban wastewater eco-exposome

Abbreviations

AMR
Antimicrobial Resistance
ARG
Antibiotic-Resistant Gene
ARB
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
MGE
Mobile Genetic Element
WW
Wastewater
HWW
Hospital Wastewater
UWW
Urban Wastewater

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1

These authors participated equally to the work.