High concentration and high dose of disinfectants and antibiotics used during the COVID-19 pandemic threaten human health

Zhongli Chen,Jinsong Guo,Yanxue Jiang,Ying Shao

doi:10.1186/s12302-021-00456-4

Abstract

The issue of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has created enormous threat to global health. In an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, a huge amount of disinfectants and antibiotics have been utilized on public health. Accordingly, the concentration of disinfectants and antibiotics is increasing rapidly in various environments, including wastewater, surface waters, soils and sediments. The aims of this study were to analyze the potential ecological environment impacts of disinfectants and antibiotics by summarizing their utilization, environmental occurrence, distribution and toxicity. The paper highlights the promoting effects of disinfectants and antibiotics on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and even antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB). The scientific evidences indicate that the high concentration and high dose of disinfectants and antibiotics promote the evolution toward antimicrobial resistance through horizontal gene transformation and vertical gene transformation, which threaten human health. Further concerns should be focused more on the enrichment, bioaccumulation and biomagnification of disinfectants, antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and even antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) in human bodies.

Highlights

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic worsens, various disinfectants and pharmaceuticals have been actively used to control the spread of the virus
High concentration and high dose of disinfectants and antibiotics used during the COVID-19 pandemic, which entered into environments, are definitely accelerating the target selection of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environments [24]
horizontal gene transformation (HGT) among bacteria increases the enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB)

Summary

Introduction

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic worsens, various disinfectants and pharmaceuticals have been actively used to control the spread of the virus. Even though the novel coronavirus is virus, and antibiotics cannot been used for treatment the disease of COVID19 directly, numerous antibiotics were widely utilized to resist the COVID-19-induced inflammation and other disease. These increasing use and misuse will definitely increase the concentration and dose of disinfectants and antibiotics in environments. Can the high concentration and high dose of disinfectants and antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic lead to more stress on ecological safety and human health?

Objectives

Conclusion