Roskilde University, Department of Science and Environment, Universitetsvej 1, Roskilde 4000, Denmark.
University of Dar es Salaam, Department of Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Technology, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
J Hazard Mater. 2021 Mar 5;405:124591. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124591. Epub 2020 Nov 28.
Plastic pollution is a growing problem, not at least in areas where poor waste management results in direct pollution of coastal zones, such as South Asia and regions in Africa. In addition to the effect on ecosystems and their related services, plastic pollution may also affect human health indirectly as vectors for infectious disease. As plastic offers a suitable surface for the attachment of biofilm forming bacteria, it may contribute to disease outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance. To investigate the role of plastic litter as potential vectors for pathogenic bacteria, we collected plastic litter from four rural sites in Zanzibar, and isolated adhered bacteria. Isolates were short-read sequenced for further molecular analysis. This revealed that collected plastic litter was associated with diverse bacterial species, including human pathogens Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Vibrio cholerae. Furthermore, most isolates were found to be multidrug resistant. Our findings confirm that plastic litter, serve as novel reservoir for human multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria that combined with poor sanitation and waste handling, may lead to transmission of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. These findings add a new level to the environmental challenges with plastic pollution; the potential health risk associated with exposure to plastic litter.
塑料污染是一个日益严重的问题，尤其是在那些废物管理不善导致沿海地区直接受到污染的地区，如南亚和非洲部分地区。除了对生态系统及其相关服务的影响外，塑料污染还可能通过传染病媒介间接影响人类健康。由于塑料为生物膜形成细菌的附着提供了合适的表面，因此它可能会导致疾病爆发和抗微生物药物耐药性的产生。为了研究塑料垃圾作为潜在病原菌载体的作用，我们从桑给巴尔的四个农村地区收集了塑料垃圾，并分离了附着的细菌。对分离物进行了短读测序，以进行进一步的分子分析。结果表明，收集的塑料垃圾与多种细菌物种有关，包括人类病原体弗氏柠檬酸杆菌、肺炎克雷伯菌和霍乱弧菌。此外，大多数分离物被发现具有多药耐药性。我们的研究结果证实，塑料垃圾是人类多药耐药性病原菌的新型储存库，再加上卫生条件差和废物处理不当，可能会导致传染病和抗微生物药物耐药性的传播。这些发现增加了塑料污染所带来的环境挑战的新层面；即接触塑料垃圾可能带来的健康风险。
