Monitoring of Water Quality, Antibiotic Residues, and Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichiacoli in the Kshipra River in India over a 3-Year Period.

Nada Hanna,Salesh P Chandran,Manju Purohit,Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg,Emilia Riggi,Vivek Parashar,Vishal Diwan,Ashok J Tamhankar

doi:10.3390/ijerph17217706

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a major global and environmental health issue, yet the presence of antibiotic residues and resistance in the water and sediment of a river subjected to excessive anthropogenic activities and their relationship with water quality of the river are not well studied. The objectives of the present study were a) to investigate the occurrence of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the water and sediment of the Kshipra river in India at seven selected sites during different seasons of the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 and b) to investigate the association between antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant E. coli in water and sediment and measured water quality parameters of the river. Antibiotic residues and resistant E. coli were present in the water and sediment and were associated with the measured water quality parameters. Sulfamethoxazole was the most frequently detected antibiotic in water at the highest concentration of 4.66 µg/L and was positively correlated with the water quality parameters. Significant (p < 0.05) seasonal and spatial variations of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in water and sediment were found. The resistance of E. coli to antibiotics (e.g., sulfamethiazole, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacine, cefotaxime, co-trimoxazole, ceftazidime, meropenem, ampicillin, amikacin, metronidazole, tetracycline, and tigecycline) had varying associations with the measured water and sediment quality parameters. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that regular monitoring and surveillance of water quality, including antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance, of all rivers should be taken up as a key priority, in national and Global Action Plans as these can have implications for the buildup of antibiotic resistance.

Highlights

Antibiotic residues have been recognized in recent years as important emerging environmental contaminants because of their potential adverse ecological and human health effects through the development of antibiotic resistance [1,2,3]
The objective of the present study was to investigate and monitor the occurrence of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant E. coli in water and sediments and the water quality of the Kshipra river in central India during various seasons and at various sites over a 3-year period
The current results have shown that some of the water quality parameters of Kshipra river exceeded permissible limits including conductivity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total alkalinity, total hardness, total phosphorus, total coliform, and total E. coli (Table S12)

Summary

Introduction

Antibiotic residues have been recognized in recent years as important emerging environmental contaminants because of their potential adverse ecological and human health effects through the development of antibiotic resistance [1,2,3]. The exposure of bacteria to antibiotic residues in the environment contributes to the selection of resistance, and the environment acts as a reservoir and a potential transmission route for resistant bacteria [4,5]. River water might create possible pathways for antibiotic resistance transmission between the environment, humans, and animals [17]. In this regard, similar patterns in antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates from humans, animals, and their water environment have been reported [18,19]. E. coli is a useful indicator of fecal contamination and is considered a reservoir of antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities [20]

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Conclusion