Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

Proclivities for prevalence and treatment of antibiotics in the ambient water: a review

This review critically examines the prevalence of antibiotics in ambient water systems and the challenges of treating antibiotic-contaminated water. Researchers found that antibiotic resistance in water environments has emerged as a major public health concern, driven by pharmaceutical runoff and inadequate wastewater treatment. The study evaluates various treatment technologies and emphasizes the need for better monitoring and removal strategies to address this growing threat to water quality.

2020 npj Clean Water 161 citations
Article Tier 2

On the Generation, Impact and Removal of Antibiotic Resistance in the Water Environment

This review explains how antibiotic resistance develops and spreads through water environments — including rivers, groundwater, and wastewater. The findings are relevant to microplastics because plastic particles in water are known to accumulate antibiotic-resistant bacteria, potentially accelerating the spread of drug resistance through aquatic systems.

2023 BIO Web of Conferences 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Bacterial signatures of anthropogenic pressures in a high-mountain river: a One Health study using full-length 16S profiling

Scientists studied bacteria in a Colombian mountain river and found that human activities like sewage discharge and industrial cooling dramatically changed the types of bacteria living in the water. Areas with more pollution had more harmful bacteria, including some linked to disease and antibiotic resistance. This research helps us understand how pollution affects water quality and could help communities better monitor and protect their water sources from health risks.

2026
Article Tier 2

Impact of wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge on the antibiotic resistome in downstream aquatic environments: a mini review

This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants release antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes into rivers and lakes through their treated water. Current treatment processes cannot fully remove these resistance factors, allowing them to spread in downstream water bodies and potentially reach humans through drinking water and the food chain. The review is relevant to microplastics research because microplastics in wastewater can serve as surfaces where resistant bacteria grow and spread.

2023 Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Combined effects of ciprofloxacin and microplastics on alpine spring water microbiota: evidence from glacier-fed microcosm experiments

Researchers used glacier-fed microcosm experiments to examine the combined effects of ciprofloxacin and microplastics on alpine spring water microbial communities, finding that the antibiotic caused significant community disruption while microplastics provided additional conditions favouring antibiotic-resistant biofilm formation.

2025 Frontiers in Microbiology
Article Tier 2

Impact of sulfamethoxazole on a riverine microbiome

Scientists studied how the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole affects the microbial community in a river, finding that even low concentrations shifted the balance of bacteria and promoted antibiotic resistance genes. This is relevant to the microplastic field because both antibiotics and microplastics promote antibiotic resistance when they co-occur in aquatic environments.

2021 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Comparison of the Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli Populations from Water and Biofilm in River Environments

Researchers compared antibiotic resistance in E. coli populations from river water versus sediment and biofilm samples at locations upstream and downstream of urban areas in Austria. They found that biofilm and sediment environments harbored bacteria with higher rates of antibiotic resistance compared to the water column. The study suggests that river biofilms may serve as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with implications for how pollutants including microplastics interact with microbial communities.

2024 Pathogens 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Dissemination Of Antibiotic Resistance Via Wastewater And Surface Water

This review examined how antibiotic-resistant bacteria spread through wastewater and surface water, noting that microplastics in wastewater can carry resistant bacteria into the environment. Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health crisis, and plastic pollution is one pathway accelerating its spread in waterways.

2021 Research Repository (Delft University of Technology)
Article Tier 2

An Overview of the Impact of Pharmaceuticals on Aquatic Microbial Communities

This review provides an overview of how pharmaceutical pollutants in aquatic environments affect microbial communities, including biofilms in natural water systems. Researchers found that even at low environmental concentrations, pharmaceuticals can alter biofilm function and increase antimicrobial tolerance in bacteria. The study highlights the need for more research on how emerging pharmaceutical pollutants may contribute to antibiotic resistance and associated public health risks.

2022 Antibiotics 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Antimicrobial Resistance Development Pathways in Surface Waters and Public Health Implications

Researchers evaluated the pathways through which antibiotic-resistant bacteria develop and spread in surface waters, identifying healthcare facilities, wastewater, agricultural runoff, and wildlife as major vehicles. The study found that antibiotic residues, heavy metals, and even climate change drive the emergence of resistance in aquatic environments. The findings highlight that surface water contamination poses a growing public health threat, particularly for food and animal handlers who face higher exposure risk.

2022 Antibiotics 86 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in fresh- and wastewater are potential contributors to antibiotic resistance - A minireview

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.

2022 Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence of Antibiotic Resistance in Lotic Ecosystems

This review examines the occurrence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in lotic (flowing water) ecosystems, analyzing how rivers and streams serve as reservoirs and conduits for the environmental dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Researchers synthesized evidence showing that agricultural runoff, wastewater discharge, and hospital effluents are major contributors to resistance gene loads in freshwater systems.

2022 THE SCIENTIFIC TEMPER 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic resistance fate in the full-scale drinking water and municipal wastewater treatment processes: A review

This review examines how antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes move through drinking water and wastewater treatment processes, finding that conventional treatment does not fully eliminate resistance. Microplastics in water systems act as surfaces that harbor and potentially transfer antibiotic resistance genes, making microplastic removal from water treatment an important co-benefit for antibiotic resistance management.

2020 Environmental Engineering Research 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Holistic assessment of chemical and biological pollutants in a Mediterranean wastewater effluent-dominated stream: Interactions and ecological impacts

Researchers conducted a comprehensive assessment of pollution downstream from a wastewater treatment plant discharge into a Mediterranean river in Spain. They found elevated levels of pharmaceuticals, metals, microplastics, PFAS chemicals, and antibiotic resistance genes below the discharge point, though some recovery occurred within about 500 meters downstream. The study demonstrates that even treated wastewater significantly alters river water quality and microbial communities, highlighting the need for improved treatment technologies.

2025 Environmental Pollution 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Antibiotics in Aquatic Environments: A Review of Their Interactions and Ecotoxicological Implications

This review examines how microplastics and antibiotics interact when they meet in water, and what that means for ecosystems and health. Antibiotics can attach to microplastic surfaces through chemical bonds, and the microplastics can then carry these drugs through the environment, potentially spreading antibiotic-resistant bacteria. While the combined threat to fish and other aquatic life needs more study, the findings raise concerns about how microplastics help move antibiotic resistance through water systems.

2024 Tropical Aquatic and Soil Pollution 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic and Non-Antibiotic Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance: Insights from Water Ecosystems

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.

2024 ACS ES&T Water 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Seasonality impels the antibiotic resistance in Kelani River of the emerging economy of Sri Lanka

A study of the Kelani River in Sri Lanka found that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were more prevalent during dry seasons, when lower water flow concentrates pollutants. Microplastics in rivers can carry antibiotic resistance genes and resistant bacteria, worsening the public health threat from contaminated water.

2020 npj Clean Water 31 citations
Article Tier 2

Accumulation of antibiotics in the environment: Have appropriate measures been taken to protect Canadian human and ecological health?

This review examines how antibiotics and other contaminants of emerging concern, including microplastics, are legally discharged into Canadian freshwater from treatment plants and accumulate in the environment. The buildup of these substances raises concerns about antibiotic resistance and ecosystem disruption, with potential downstream effects on human health through contaminated drinking water and food sources.

2024 Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 21 citations
Article Tier 2

A Review of the Distribution of Antibiotics in Water in Different Regions of China and Current Antibiotic Degradation Pathways

This review summarized the spatial and temporal distribution of antibiotic contamination across major Chinese water bodies, identifying livestock farming, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aquaculture as primary sources and reviewing current biological and physicochemical degradation pathways.

2021 Frontiers in Environmental Science 161 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, fate, and risk assessment of antibiotics in typical pharmaceutical manufactories and receiving surface waters from different regions

Researchers assessed the occurrence, fate, and environmental risk of antibiotics in wastewater from four pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in China and their receiving surface waters, detecting 13 antibiotics at concentrations of 57-727 ng/L with fluoroquinolones and macrolides as the dominant classes and identifying residual risks after wastewater treatment discharge.

2022 1 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2021 Environmental Science & Technology 415 citations
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceuticals in Water: Risks to Aquatic Life and Remediation Strategies

This review examines how pharmaceutical drugs in waterways threaten aquatic life and potentially human health. The biggest concern is the rise of antibiotic resistance from drugs entering water through household and agricultural waste. While not specifically about microplastics, the topic is connected because microplastics can adsorb and transport pharmaceutical residues through water systems.

2023 Hydrobiology 99 citations
Article Tier 2

Strategy to Combat Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria and Genes in Wastewater in Developing Countries

This review highlights strategies to reduce antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes in wastewater in developing countries, emphasizing the need for improved treatment infrastructure, reduced antibiotic releases into the environment, and ongoing monitoring to protect public health.

2023 Preprints.org 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Knowledge gaps in the assessment of antimicrobial resistance in surface waters

This review identifies knowledge gaps in assessing antimicrobial resistance in surface waters, highlighting uncertainties about the selection pressure from antibiotics and heavy metals and the impact on aquatic organisms and human health.

2021 FEMS Microbiology Ecology 46 citations