We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes as rising threats: Their interaction represents an urgent environmental concern
Summary
This review examines how microplastics interact with antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment, creating a combined pollution threat. Microplastics can absorb antibiotics onto their surface and serve as platforms where bacteria exchange resistance genes. This interaction could accelerate the spread of antibiotic resistance, making infections harder to treat and posing a growing public health risk.
Microplastics (MPs) have been reported to be emerging contaminant of different environmental niches like air, soil, and water. When exposed to these environments, MPs interact with already existing antibiotics to create combined pollution that can harm organisms. MPs have garnered significant attention in academic circles due to their ability to adsorb antibiotics. This review article explores different dimensions of MPs, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and the interplay between MPs, antibiotics, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), emphasizing their interconnection with soil and water pollution. It also summarizes the mechanisms behind the interaction between antibiotics and MPs, detailing various physical and chemical interactions. Additionally, it outlines the pathways through which MPs and ARGs complexes spread, offering insights for future research and solutions to tackle compound pollution. The article concludes by providing targeted strategies to mitigate the environmental and public health risks posed by MP-associated ARG transmission, highlighting the need for integrated pollution control, advanced monitoring techniques, and stricter regulatory policies.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Insight into combined pollution of antibiotics and microplastics in aquatic and soil environment: Environmental behavior, interaction mechanism and associated impact of resistant genes
This review examines the combined pollution created when microplastics absorb antibiotics in water and soil environments. Researchers found that microplastics can concentrate antibiotics on their surfaces, and this combination promotes the spread of antibiotic-resistant genes in microbial communities. The study highlights that the interaction between these two emerging pollutants may pose greater environmental and health risks than either one alone.
Ecotoxicological Effects of Microplastics Combined With Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment: Recent Developments and Prospects
This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in water environments, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics onto their surfaces and carry them over long distances. When aquatic organisms encounter these antibiotic-laden microplastics, the combined toxicity can be worse than either pollutant alone. Microplastics also promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes, which is a growing public health concern.
Interaction of Microplastics with Antibiotics in Aquatic Environment: Distribution, Adsorption, and Toxicity
This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact in waterways, finding that microplastics can absorb antibiotics from the water and change their availability and toxicity to aquatic organisms. Critically, microplastics also provide surfaces where antibiotic resistance genes can accumulate and spread among bacteria. This is concerning for human health because it means microplastics in water could be accelerating the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections.
A review on the effect of micro- and nano-plastics pollution on the emergence of antimicrobial resistance
This review highlights how microplastics serve as breeding grounds for antimicrobial resistance genes, examining the overlooked interaction between plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance that poses combined threats to environmental and human health.
Microplastics and their role in the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria as a threat for the environment
Researchers reviewed how microplastics act as breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant bacteria by providing surfaces where bacteria can swap resistance genes with each other — a process called horizontal gene transfer. This dual threat of plastic pollution and antibiotic resistance is compounding into a significant global public health crisis.