[Antibiotic resistance of bacteria to 6 antibiotics in secondary effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants].

Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wastewater effluents is concerned as an emerging contaminant. To estimate antibiotic resistance in secondary effluents of municipal wastewater treatment plants, antibiotic tolerance of heterotrophic bacteria, proportion of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and hemi-inhibitory concentrations of six antibiotics (penicillin, ampicillin, cefalexin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline and rifampicin) were determined at two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Beijing. The results showed that proportions of ampicillin-resistant bacteria in WWTP-G and chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria in WWTP-Q were highest to 59% and 44%, respectively. The concentrations of ampicillin-resistant bacteria in the effluents of WWTP-G and WWTP-Q were as high as 4.0 x 10(3) CFU x mL(-1) and 3.5 x 10(4) CFU x mL(-1), respectively; the concentrations of chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria were 4.9 x 10(2) CFU x mL(-1) and 4.6 x 10(4) CFU x mL(-1), respectively. The data also indicated that the hemi-inhibitory concentrations of heterotrophic bacteria to 6 antibiotics were much higher than common concentrations of antibiotics in sewages, which suggested that antibiotic-resistant bacteria could exist over a long period in the effluents with low concentrations of antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria could be a potential microbial risk during sewage effluent reuse or emission into environmental waters.