Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
Water Res. 2013 Jan 1;47(1):130-40. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.044. Epub 2012 Oct 4.
Recent studies have demonstrated that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) significantly alter the magnitude and distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in receiving environments, indicating that wastewater treatment represents an important node for limiting ARG dissemination. This study examined the potential for membrane treatment of microconstituent ARGs and the effect of native wastewater colloids on the extent of their removal. Plasmids containing vanA (vancomycin) and bla(TEM) (β-lactam) ARGs were spiked into three representative WWTP effluents versus a control buffer and tracked by quantitative polymerase chain reaction through a cascade of microfiltration and ultrafiltration steps ranging from 0.45 μm to 1 kDa. Significant removal of ARGs was achieved by membranes of 100 kDa and smaller, and presence of wastewater colloids resulted in enhanced removal by 10 kDa and 1 kDa membranes. ARG removal was observed to correlate significantly with the corresponding protein, polysaccharide, and total organic carbon colloidal fractions. Alumina membranes removed ARGs to a greater extent than polyvinylidene fluoride membranes of the same pore size (0.1 μm), but only in the presence of wastewater material. Control studies confirmed that membrane treatment was the primary mechanism of ARG removal, versus other potential sources of loss. This study suggests that advanced membrane treatment technology is promising for managing public health risks of ARGs in wastewater effluents and that removal may even be enhanced by colloids in real-world wastewaters.
最近的研究表明，污水处理厂（WWTPs）显著改变了抗生素抗性基因（ARGs）在受纳环境中的丰度和分布，这表明污水处理是限制 ARG 传播的一个重要节点。本研究考察了膜处理微成分 ARGs 的潜力以及天然废水胶体对其去除程度的影响。含有 vanA（万古霉素）和 bla(TEM)（β-内酰胺）ARGs 的质粒被添加到三个代表性的 WWTP 废水中，与对照缓冲液进行对比，并通过定量聚合酶链式反应进行追踪，通过一系列从 0.45μm 到 1kDa 的微滤和超滤步骤进行级联。100kDa 及更小的膜能显著去除 ARGs，废水胶体的存在会导致 10kDa 和 1kDa 膜的去除效果增强。ARG 的去除与相应的蛋白质、多糖和总有机碳胶体分数显著相关。氧化铝膜比相同孔径（0.1μm）的聚偏二氟乙烯膜更能去除 ARGs，但仅在存在废水物质的情况下才会如此。对照研究证实，膜处理是去除 ARG 的主要机制，而非其他潜在的损失源。本研究表明，先进的膜处理技术有望用于管理废水处理厂废水中 ARGs 的公共健康风险，并且在实际废水中胶体的存在甚至可能增强去除效果。
