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The Antimicrobial Resistance–Water–Corporate Interface: Exploring the Connections Between Antimicrobials, Water, and Pollution
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This perspective review explores how various industries contribute to antibiotic resistance through water pollution, including pharmaceutical manufacturing runoff, agricultural practices, and plastic and microplastic contamination. Researchers highlight that water systems serve as breeding grounds where resistant bacteria develop and spread, with microplastics acting as carriers for these harmful microorganisms. The study calls for corporate accountability and better regulation to address this growing public health threat.
Antibiotic resistance is a public health emergency, with ten million deaths estimated annually by the year 2050. Water systems are an important medium for the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance from a variety of sources, explored in this perspective review. Hospital wastewater and wastewater systems more broadly are breeding grounds for antibiotic resistance because of the nature of their waste and how it is processed. Corporations from various sectors contribute to antibiotic resistance in many direct and indirect ways. Pharmaceutical factory runoff, agricultural antibiotic use, agricultural use of nitrogen fertilizers, heavy metal pollution, air pollution (atmospheric deposition, burning of oil and/or fossil fuels), plastic/microplastic pollution, and oil/petroleum spills/pollution have all been demonstrated to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Mitigation strategies to reduce these pathways to antibiotic resistance are discussed and future directions hypothesized.
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Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview
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Researchers reviewed the link between microplastic pollution and the spread of antibiotic resistance in freshwater environments, finding that microplastic surfaces host unique bacterial communities enriched in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the resistance genes they can share with other microbes. The close packing of bacteria in these plastic-surface biofilms may accelerate the spread of drug-resistant pathogens through drinking water sources, though the full health implications remain poorly understood.
Antimicrobial resistance in aquatic ecosystems: Sources, transmission pathways, ecological impacts, and mitigation strategies
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This review pulls together existing research showing that rivers, lakes, and wastewater aren't just passive dumping grounds for antibiotics and drug-resistant bacteria—they're actually breeding grounds where these germs mix, swap resistance traits, and become even harder to treat, especially when microplastics and other pollutants are present alongside antibiotics. This matters because these "supercharged" resistant bacteria can reach you through drinking water, seafood, or swimming, making common infections harder to cure with standard antibiotics. The authors argue that better wastewater treatment and pollution control are key to slowing this spread before it further thre
Antibiotic and Non-Antibiotic Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance: Insights from Water Ecosystems
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This review explains how non-antibiotic pollutants like heavy metals, biocides, and microplastics are contributing to antibiotic resistance in water systems, beyond the well-known problem of antibiotic overuse. Wastewater treatment plants are hotspots where these pollutants interact with bacteria, promoting the spread of resistance genes through mobile genetic elements. The findings are concerning for human health because drug-resistant bacteria from water environments can ultimately reach people through drinking water and food.
How Antimicrobial Resistance Is Linked to Climate Change: An Overview of Two Intertwined Global Challenges
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This review explores how climate change and antibiotic resistance are connected health emergencies, with microplastics playing a role as carriers that help spread resistant bacteria through waterways. The findings suggest that rising plastic pollution in water systems may contribute to the spread of drug-resistant infections, which is a growing threat to human health.
Microplastics and Antibiotic Resistance: The Magnitude of the Problem and the Emerging Role of Hospital Wastewater
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This review examines how microplastics in water can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria and spread resistance genes, especially through hospital wastewater. Microplastics provide a surface where bacteria easily form colonies and share resistance genes, creating a potential threat to human health. The authors call for better wastewater management to reduce this emerging risk.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.