Occurrence of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the Nervión river

J I Pérez; R Álvarez-Arroyo; J Arrieta; J M Suescun; S Paunero; M A Gómez

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132479

Occurrence of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the Nervión river

Chemosphere. 2022 Feb;288(Pt 1):132479. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132479. Epub 2021 Oct 6.

Authors

J I Pérez¹, R Álvarez-Arroyo², J Arrieta³, J M Suescun⁴, S Paunero⁵, M A Gómez⁶

Affiliations

¹ Technologies for Water Management and Treatment Research Group, University of Granada, Spain. Electronic address: jorgeig@ugr.es.
² Technologies for Water Management and Treatment Research Group, University of Granada, Spain. Electronic address: rocioaarroyo@ugr.es.
³ Department of Research and Development, CADAGUA S.A., Gran Vía 45, 7(a), 48011, Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: jam@cadagua.es.
⁴ Department of Research and Development, CADAGUA S.A., Gran Vía 45, 7(a), 48011, Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: jmsr@cadagua.es.
⁵ Bilbao-Bizkaia Water Consortium, 48001, Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: spaunero@consorciodeaguas.eus.
⁶ Technologies for Water Management and Treatment Research Group, University of Granada, Spain. Electronic address: mgomezn@ugr.es.

PMID: 34626662
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132479

Abstract

The main hydrometeorological, microbiological and physico-chemical characteristics of the Nervión river were monitored during a year, including 10 antibiotics and the presence of bacteria resistant to these antibiotics among faecal coliforms (FC) and total aerobic bacteria at 22 °C (TAB₂₂). The characteristics of the river water were variable without a clear seasonal component, strongly influenced by rainfall, with a good quality for drinking water production throughout the year according to the physico-chemical parameters. The antibiotic resistant bacteria isolated from the water of the Nervión river were especially resistant to β-lactams and macrolide antibiotics, highlighting the absence of resistance to derivatives of tetracyclines among strains of TAB₂₂. A third of the isolated strains were multi-resistant to antibiotics with a seasonal component in its presence, with multi-resistant FC more abundant during summer and multi-resistant TAB₂₂ more abundant during winter. The presence of antibiotics in the waters of the Nervión river was not very significant, with total absence of β-lactams, minocycline and ciprofloxacin. Erythromycin and clarithromycin can be considered ubiquitous with mean concentrations of 2.5 ± 2.3 ngL^-1 and 5.7 ± 4.6 ngL^-1 respectively, and the presence of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim was also noticeable with maximum concentrations of 78.3 ngL^-1 for sulfamethoxazole. Dilution due to the increase of rainfall was observed for several analysed antibiotics, but without significant seasonal differences.

Keywords: Antibiotic; Antibiotic-resistant bacteria; Multi-resistant bacteria; Nervión river.

MeSH terms

Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Anti-Bacterial Agents* / pharmacology
Bacteria
Rivers*

Substances

Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors
Anti-Bacterial Agents