Monitoring of Water Quality, Antibiotic Residues, and Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli in the Kshipra River in India over a 3-Year Period

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 17; no. 21; p. 7706
• Main Authors: Hanna, Nada, Purohit, Manju, Diwan, Vishal, Chandran, Salesh P, Riggi, Emilia, Parashar, Vivek, Tamhankar, Ashok J, Lundborg, Cecilia Stålsby
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22-10-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Alkalinity; Amikacin; Ampicillin; Anthropogenic factors; Anti-Bacterial Agents - analysis; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Bacteria; Carbon dioxide; Cefotaxime; Ceftazidime; Chemical oxygen demand; Cotrimoxazole; Drug resistance; E coli; Environmental health; Environmental Monitoring; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Escherichia coli - physiology; Fluvial sediments; India; Laboratories; Meropenem; Metronidazole; Monitoring; Nitrates; Norfloxacin; Phosphorus; Pollutants; Pollution monitoring; Residues; Rivers; Rivers - microbiology; Sediments; Spatial variations; Sulfamethoxazole; Tigecycline; Water Microbiology; Water Quality; Water quality measurements; India; Mumbai India; antibiotic-resistant E. coli; antibiotic residues; water quality; river water and sediment; environmental pollution
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217706

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a major global and environmental health issue, yet the presence of antibiotic residues and resistance in the water and sediment of a river subjected to excessive anthropogenic activities and their relationship with water quality of the river are not well studied. The objectives of the present study were a) to investigate the occurrence of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant
(
) in the water and sediment of the Kshipra river in India at seven selected sites during different seasons of the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 and b) to investigate the association between antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant
in water and sediment and measured water quality parameters of the river. Antibiotic residues and resistant
were present in the water and sediment and were associated with the measured water quality parameters. Sulfamethoxazole was the most frequently detected antibiotic in water at the highest concentration of 4.66 µg/L and was positively correlated with the water quality parameters. Significant (
< 0.05) seasonal and spatial variations of antibiotic-resistant
in water and sediment were found. The resistance of
to antibiotics (e.g., sulfamethiazole, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacine, cefotaxime, co-trimoxazole, ceftazidime, meropenem, ampicillin, amikacin, metronidazole, tetracycline, and tigecycline) had varying associations with the measured water and sediment quality parameters. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that regular monitoring and surveillance of water quality, including antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistance, of all rivers should be taken up as a key priority, in national and Global Action Plans as these can have implications for the buildup of antibiotic resistance.