Effect of powdered activated carbon as advanced step in wastewater treatments on antibiotic resistant microorganisms.

Effect of powdered activated carbon as advanced step in wastewater treatments on antibiotic resistant microorganisms. Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2019 Feb 06;: Authors: Ravasi D, König R, Principi P, Perale G, Demarta A Abstract Conventional wastewater treatment plants discharge important amounts of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes into natural water bodies contributing to the spread of antibiotic resistance. Some advanced wastewater treatment technologies have been shown to effectively decrease the number of bacteria. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of these treatments on antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistant genes. To our knowledge, no specific studies have considered how powdered activated carbon (PAC) treatments can act on antibiotic resistant bacteria, although it is essential to assess the impact of this wastewater treatment on the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. To address this gap, we evaluated the fate and the distribution of fluorescent-tagged antibiotic/antimycotic resistant microorganisms in a laboratory-scale model simulating a process configuration involving powdered activated carbon as advanced wastewater treatment. Furthermore, we studied the possible increase of naturally present antibiotic resistant bacteria during the treatment implementing PAC recycling. The analysis of fluorescent-tagged microorganisms demonstrated the eff...
Source: Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tags: Curr Pharm Biotechnol Source Type: research