Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

The Complex Interplay Between Antibiotic Resistance and Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products in the Environment

This review explores the complex relationship between antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, and environmental contaminants including pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Researchers found that antibiotic resistance is often elevated in human-impacted environments, particularly where faecal waste and chemical contaminant mixtures are present. The study highlights how environmental pollution, including microplastic contamination, may contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance through horizontal gene transfer and bacterial adaptation.

2022 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 44 citations
Article Tier 2

Effects of emerging pollutants on the occurrence and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes: A review

This review examines how emerging pollutants, including microplastics, engineered nanomaterials, and pharmaceuticals, can promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. Researchers found that these pollutants can increase the frequency of horizontal gene transfer between bacteria, potentially accelerating the evolution of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The study highlights a concerning link between environmental contamination and the growing global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

2021 Journal of Hazardous Materials 223 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental and Health Effects of Emerging Contaminants –A Critical Review

Researchers reviewed the environmental and health effects of emerging contaminants including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and microplastics commonly found in water and soil samples. The study suggests that these contaminants can cause endocrine disruption in exposed organisms and may contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment.

2023 International Journal of Advanced Science and Engineering 9 citations
Article Tier 2

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.

2025 Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Antimicrobial and the Resistances in the Environment: Ecological and Health Risks, Influencing Factors, and Mitigation Strategies

This review examines how antimicrobial contamination in the environment contributes to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. Researchers found that residual antimicrobials from medical and agricultural use continuously enter ecosystems, promoting the spread of resistant bacteria and resistance genes. The study highlights environmental factors that are often overlooked and discusses strategies for reducing antimicrobial pollution and limiting resistance spread.

2023 Toxics 58 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics as emerging reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance: Clinical relevance and environmental mechanisms

This review examines how microplastics act as environmental reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes, creating selective microenvironments through antibiotic and metal adsorption, biofilm formation, and horizontal gene transfer, with potential pathways to clinical human exposure.

2025 Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations
Article Tier 2

Prevalence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products, microplastics and co-infecting microbes in the post-COVID-19 era and its implications on antimicrobial resistance and potential endocrine disruptive effects

This review examines how the COVID-19 pandemic increased environmental contamination from pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and microplastics, all of which can promote antibiotic resistance and disrupt hormones. The surge in mask use, sanitizer disposal, and medication contributed to higher levels of these pollutants in waterways. The combination of microplastics with pharmaceutical residues creates a compounding threat where plastics can carry drug-resistant bacteria and hormone-disrupting chemicals into water supplies.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 37 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the effect of micro/nanoplastics on the occurrence and horizontal transfer of environmental antibiotic resistance genes: Advances, mechanisms and future prospects

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics promote the spread of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment. The tiny plastic particles create conditions that help bacteria exchange resistance genes more easily by generating oxidative stress, making cell membranes more permeable, and providing surfaces where resistant bacteria can form communities. This is a growing public health concern because antibiotic-resistant infections are increasingly difficult to treat.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 20 citations
Article Tier 2

Current examining methods and mathematical models of horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes in the environment

This review examines the methods used to study how antibiotic resistance genes spread between bacteria in the environment through a process called horizontal gene transfer. While not specifically about microplastics, this is directly relevant because microplastics have been shown to serve as platforms that promote the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria, potentially accelerating the spread of drug-resistant infections.

2024 Frontiers in Microbiology 20 citations
Article Tier 2

The problem of contamination of aquatic ecosystems with antibiotics (a review)

This review examines the contamination of aquatic ecosystems by antibiotics, synthesizing global data on risks associated with antibiotic presence in ocean and freshwater environments, including effects on aquatic organisms and the promotion of antibiotic resistance. The authors assess quantitative and qualitative contamination using bivalves as bioindicators and evaluate the spread of resistance genes through aquatic biocenoses.

2023 Ribogospodarsʹka nauka Ukraïni 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and Their Role in the Maintenance and Spread of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Marine Ecosystems

This review examines the role of microplastics in maintaining and spreading antibiotic resistance genes in marine ecosystems, synthesizing evidence that plastic pollution in aquatic environments creates reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria and facilitates horizontal gene transfer.

2022 Antibiot Khimioter = Antibiotics and Chemotherapy 1 citations
Article Tier 2

How micro-/nano-plastics influence the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes - A review

This review examines how micro- and nanoplastics help spread antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria -- a major global health threat. The tiny plastic particles can act as platforms where bacteria exchange DNA carrying drug-resistance instructions, potentially making infections harder to treat. The effect depends on the type, size, and concentration of plastics, and has been documented in sewage, livestock farms, and landfills.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancements in the dominion of fate and transport of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment—a bibliometric study

Researchers conducted a bibliometric analysis of 577 studies on the environmental fate and transport of pharmaceuticals and personal care products published from 1996 to 2020, identifying seven major research themes and mapping how these contaminants move from sewage treatment plants into sediments, soils, groundwater, and oceans.

2023 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics and antibiotic resistance genes as rising threats: Their interaction represents an urgent environmental concern

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.

2025 Current Research in Microbial Sciences 6 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of the Environment (Water, Air, Soil) in the Emergence and Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance: A One Health Perspective

This review examines how water, soil, and air act as reservoirs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with microplastics highlighted as one of several agents that help spread drug-resistant genes across environments. The findings matter for human health because microplastics can carry antibiotic-resistant bacteria from wastewater and agricultural runoff into water supplies and food systems.

2025 Antibiotics 16 citations
Article Tier 2

Understanding the Interplay between Antimicrobial Resistance, Microplastics and Xenobiotic Contaminants: A Leap towards One Health?

This review examines the interplay between antimicrobial resistance, microplastics, and xenobiotic contaminants in the environment, highlighting how microplastics can serve as vectors for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes, posing combined threats to ecosystem and human health.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 21 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of emerging organic contaminants in the development of antimicrobial resistance

Researchers reviewed how emerging organic contaminants — including plastics, pharmaceuticals, and biocides found throughout the environment — can promote the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in microbes. The study argues that tackling antimicrobial resistance requires addressing not just antibiotic overuse but also the broader chemical pollution that shapes microbial communities.

2021 Emerging contaminants 77 citations
Article Tier 2

Antibiotic sorption onto MPs in terrestrial environment: a critical review of the transport, bioaccumulation, ecotoxicological effects and prospects

This review examines how microplastics in soil absorb and transport antibiotics, creating complex pollutants that can spread antibiotic resistance genes through the environment. When antibiotic-carrying microplastics are taken up by plants or soil organisms, the resistance genes can eventually reach humans through the food chain. The authors highlight the need for better strategies to reduce microplastic contamination in soil to help slow the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance.

2024 Drug and Chemical Toxicology 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Aquatic Environment: How Can Regions at Risk be Identified in the Future?

This review discusses the growing concern over pharmaceuticals and personal care products as environmental contaminants in aquatic systems, particularly in regions with limited monitoring infrastructure. Researchers outline key research priorities for the next decade, including improving predictions of where these chemicals pose the greatest risk. The study emphasizes the need for better global surveillance and risk assessment models to protect both ecosystems and human health.

2023 Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 24 citations
Article Tier 2

[Influencing Factors and Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Enrichment by Microplastics in the Environment].

This review examines how microplastics in the environment serve as carriers for antibiotic resistance genes, enriching and spreading resistant bacteria across air, soil, water, and sediments. Researchers found that the type, surface characteristics, and aging of microplastics all influence how effectively they accumulate resistance genes and facilitate horizontal gene transfer. The findings highlight the need to consider microplastics as an important vector in the environmental spread of antibiotic resistance.

2026 PubMed
Article Tier 2

Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on the Dissemination of ARGs in the Environment—A Review

This review examined how anthropogenic activities, including operation of wastewater treatment plants and agricultural practices, contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance genes in the environment. The study discusses how microplastics and other pollutants may serve as carriers and facilitators for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance, compounding the global public health challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

2022 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 55 citations
Article Tier 2

Interplay Between Antimicrobial Resistance and Global Environmental Change

This review explores how global environmental changes, including pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction, are accelerating the spread of antimicrobial resistance. Researchers found that factors like microplastic pollution, heavy metals, and pharmaceutical waste create conditions that promote the evolution of resistant bacteria. The study suggests that addressing antimicrobial resistance requires considering it as an environmental problem, not just a medical one.

2023 Annual Review of Genetics 25 citations
Article Tier 2

Parabens as environmental contaminants of aquatic systems affecting water quality and microbial dynamics

Researchers reviewed the occurrence of parabens — common preservatives in cosmetics and food — in global water sources, finding concentrations above 100 µg/L in some wastewaters and raising concern about their effects on human health, aquatic organisms, and microbial communities including potential contributions to antibiotic resistance.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 67 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics: Disseminators of antibiotic resistance genes and pathogenic bacteria

This review examined the role of microplastics as carriers of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and pathogenic bacteria, analyzing how plastisphere biofilms concentrate and spread AMR through air, water, and soil environments. The evidence supports MPs as global vectors for antimicrobial resistance dissemination with implications for human health.

2025 Aquatic Toxicology