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Does Irrigation with Treated and Untreated Wastewater Increase Antimicrobial Resistance in Soil and Water: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: Population growth and water scarcity necessitate alternative agriculture practices, such as reusing wastewater for irrigation. Domestic wastewater has been used for irrigation for centuries in many historically low-income and arid countries and is becoming more widely used by high-income countries to augment water resources in an increasingly dry climate. Wastewater treatment processes are not fully effective in removing all contaminants, such as antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Literature reviews on the impact of wastewater irrigation on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment have been inconclusive and mostly focused on treated wastewater. We conducted the first systematic review to assess the impact of irrigation with both treated or untreated domestic wastewater on ARB and ARGs in soil and adjacent water bodies. We screened titles/abstracts of 3002 articles, out of which 41 were screened in full text and 26 were included in this review. Of these, thirteen investigated irrigation with untreated wastewater, and nine found a positive association with ARB/ARGs in soil. Out of thirteen studies focused on treated wastewater, six found a positive association with ARB/ARGs while six found mixed/negative associations. Our findings demonstrate that irrigation with untreated wastewater increases AMR in soil and call for precautionary action by field workers, their families, and consumers when untreated wastewater is used to irrigate crops. The effect of irrigation with treated wastewater was more variable among the studies included in our review, highlighting the need to better understand to what extent AMR is disseminated through this practice. Future research should assess factors that modify the effect of wastewater irrigation on AMR in soil, such as the degree and type of wastewater treatment, and the duration and intensity of irrigation, to inform guidelines on the reuse of wastewater for irrigation.

SUBMITTER: Slobodiuk S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8583129 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Freshwater scarcity and regulations on wastewater disposal have necessitated the reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for soil irrigation, which has several environmental and economic benefits. However, TWW irrigation can cause nutrient loading to the receiving environments. We assessed bacterial community structure and associated biogeochemical changes in soil plots irrigated with nitrate-rich TWW (referred to as pivots) for periods ranging from 13 to 30 years. Soil cores (0 to 40 cm) were collected in summer and winter from five irrigated pivots and three adjacently located nonirrigated plots. Total bacterial and denitrifier gene abundances were estimated by quantitative PCR (qPCR), and community structure was assessed by 454 massively parallel tag sequencing (MPTS) of small-subunit (SSU) rRNA genes along with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of nirK, nirS, and nosZ functional genes responsible for denitrification of the TWW-associated nitrate. Soil physicochemical analyses showed that, regardless of the seasons, pH and moisture contents (MC) were higher in the irrigated (IR) pivots than in the nonirrigated (NIR) plots; organic matter (OM) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were higher as a function of season but not of irrigation treatment. MPTS analysis showed that TWW loading resulted in the following: (i) an increase in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, especially Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria; (ii) a decrease in the relative abundance of Actinobacteria; (iii) shifts in the communities of acidobacterial groups, along with a shift in the nirK and nirS denitrifier guilds as shown by T-RFLP analysis. Additionally, bacterial biomass estimated by genus/group-specific real-time qPCR analyses revealed that higher numbers of total bacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and the nirS denitrifier guilds were present in the IR pivots than in the NIR plots. Identification of the nirK-containing microbiota as a proxy for the denitrifier community indicated that bacteria belonged to alphaproteobacteria from the Rhizobiaceae family within the agroecosystem studied. Multivariate statistical analyses further confirmed some of the above soil physicochemical and bacterial community structure changes as a function of long-term TWW application within this agroecosystem.

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Does Irrigation with Treated and Untreated Wastewater Increase Antimicrobial Resistance in Soil and Water: A Systematic Review.

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