Abstract
Extensive use of antibiotics for humans and livestock has led to an enhanced level of antibiotic resistance in the environment. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are regarded as one of the main sources of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the aquatic environment. A significant amount of research has been carried out to understand the microbiological quality of wastewater with respect to its antibiotic resistance potential over the past several years. UV disinfection has primarily been used to achieve disinfection, including damaging DNA, but there has been an increasing use of chlorine and H2O2-based AOPs for targeting genes, including ARGs, considering the higher energy demands related to the greater UV fluences needed to achieve efficient DNA damage. This review focuses on some of the most investigated processes, including UV photolysis and chlorine in both individual and combined approaches and UV advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) using H2O2. Since these approaches have practical disinfection and wastewater treatment applications globally, the processes are reviewed from the perspective of extending their scope to DNA damage/ARG inactivation in full-scale wastewater treatment. The fate of ARGs during existing wastewater treatment processes and how it changes with existing treatment processes is reviewed with a view to highlighting the research needs in relation to selected processes for addressing future disinfection challenges.
Highlights
Wastewater reuse has traditionally been considered safe after treatment by a combination of physicochemical and biological treatments that target the removal of organic matter, chemical contaminants, and microorganisms
This trend was quite different to WWTP2, for which most of the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) showed a decrease of 22–92% except for tet, which increased by 29%
Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes present an emerging challenge to treated wastewater reuse applications considering that these contaminants are unregulated
Summary
Wastewater reuse has traditionally been considered safe after treatment by a combination of physicochemical and biological treatments that target the removal of organic matter, chemical contaminants, and microorganisms. Various investigations have shown a correlation between the presence of genes encoding for resistances against different metals and of ARGs in plasmids and integrons associated with contaminated soils and WWTPs [8,9,10] Such concerns may impede efforts to provide safe drinking water as well as the discharge and reuse of the treated wastewater. UV photolysis, UV/H2 O2 , and UV/Cl2 are focused on in this article considering their practical applications and greater future potential compared with other disinfectants and AOPs for ARG inactivation Since these processes and/or their combinations are widely used in practical water and wastewater treatment for a range of contaminants, they stand out as some of the best potential technologies for inactivation of ARGs on a large scale.
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