State of the art of tertiary treatment technologies for controlling antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants

Mengke Pei; Bo Zhang; Yiliang He; Jianqiang Su; Karina Gin; Ovadia Lev; Genxiang Shen; Shuangqing Hu

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105026

State of the art of tertiary treatment technologies for controlling antibiotic resistance in wastewater treatment plants

Environ Int. 2019 Oct:131:105026. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105026. Epub 2019 Jul 24.

Authors

Mengke Pei¹, Bo Zhang², Yiliang He¹, Jianqiang Su³, Karina Gin⁴, Ovadia Lev⁵, Genxiang Shen⁶, Shuangqing Hu⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
² School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China. Electronic address: zhangbo214@sjtu.edu.cn.
³ Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen 361021, China.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
⁵ The Casali Center and the Institute of Chemistry and The Harvey M. Krueger Family Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
⁶ Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China.

PMID: 31351383
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.105026

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have been considered as emerging contaminants of concern nowadays. There are no special technologies designed to directly remove ARGs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In order to reduce the risk of ARGs, it is vital to understand the efficiency of advanced treatment technologies in removing antibiotic resistance genes in WWTPs. This review highlights the application and efficiency of tertiary treatment technologies on the elimination of ARGs, s, based on an understanding of their occurrence and fate in WWTPs. These technologies include chemical-based processes such as chlorination, ozonation, ultraviolet, and advanced oxidation technology, as well as physical separation processes, biological processes such as constructed wetland and membrane bioreactor, and soil aquifer treatment. The merits, limitations and ameliorative measures of these processes are discussed, with the view to optimizing future treatment strategies and identifying new research directions.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Biological processes; Chemical-based approaches; Physical separation process; Soil aquifer treatment; Wastewater treatment plants.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Bioreactors
DNA
Drug Resistance, Microbial / genetics*
Genes, Bacterial*
Oxidation-Reduction
Waste Disposal Facilities
Wastewater* / analysis
Water Pollutants / isolation & purification*
Water Purification / methods*

Substances

Waste Water
Water Pollutants
DNA