Cheng Subin, Zhang Rutao, Liu Qixuan, He Shangwei, Sun Jie, Xing Liqun
College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
Hemei Environmental Protection Group Co. Ltd., Hefei, 230000, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2025 Jan;32(3):1223-1235. doi: 10.1007/s11356-024-35832-z. Epub 2024 Dec 23.
The excessive use of antibiotics contributes significantly to environmental pollution and the widespread presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which poses a serious threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Despite being a critical source of antibiotics and ARGs in the environment, research exploring their occurrence and removal characteristics in township wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) remains limited. This study investigated the abundance and removal efficiencies of 39 antibiotics and 8 ARGs in influent and effluent samples from 40 township WWTPs located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Antibiotics were detected in both influents and effluents, with detection frequencies (DFs) ranging from 2.44% to 100%. In contrast, all targeted ARGs exhibied 100% DFs in both influents and effluents. The average concentrations of antibiotics in influents and effluents were 370.67 ng/L and 242.06 ng/L, respectively, and the ARGs concentrations were 9.88 × 10 and 7.10 × 10 copies/mL, respectively. Among the antibiotics analyzed, macrolides and fluoroquinolones accounted for over 70% of the total antibiotic concentrations in both influent and effluent samples. Additionally, sul1 and sul2 were identified as the predominant ARGs, constituting more than 99% of the total abundance in both influent and effluent samples. Notably, significant correlations between the ARGs and their respective antibiotics were not consistently observed. The average removal efficiencies for total antibiotics and ARGs by township WWTPs were 34.70% and 93.30%, respectively. Furthermore, all calculated ecological risk values (risk quotient, RQ) for individual antibiotics in effluent samples were below one, except for oxytetracycline, which had RQ values greater than one in three effluents. The total RQs, representing the sum of individual RQs, indicated that 11 effluents presented a high risk (27.50%), while 17 effluents exhibited a moderate risk (42.50%). These findings suggest that township WWTPs may represent a significant source of antibiotics and ARGs in the environment, necessitating further process improvements for their effective elimination.
抗生素的过度使用对环境污染和抗生素抗性基因（ARGs）的广泛存在有重大影响，这对水生生态系统和人类健康构成了严重威胁。尽管乡镇污水处理厂是环境中抗生素和ARGs的重要来源，但探索它们在乡镇污水处理厂中的出现情况和去除特性的研究仍然有限。本研究调查了长江上游40座乡镇污水处理厂进水和出水样本中39种抗生素和8种ARGs的丰度及去除效率。进水和出水中均检测到抗生素，检测频率（DFs）范围为2.44%至100%。相比之下，所有目标ARGs在进水和出水中的DFs均为100%。进水和出水中抗生素的平均浓度分别为370.67 ng/L和242.06 ng/L，ARGs浓度分别为9.88×10和7.10×10拷贝/mL。在所分析的抗生素中，大环内酯类和氟喹诺酮类在进水和出水样本中的总抗生素浓度中占比超过70%。此外，sul1和sul2被确定为主要的ARGs，在进水和出水样本中的总丰度中占比超过99%。值得注意的是，未始终观察到ARGs与其各自抗生素之间存在显著相关性。乡镇污水处理厂对总抗生素和ARGs的平均去除效率分别为34.70%和93.30%。此外，除土霉素外，出水样本中各抗生素的所有计算生态风险值（风险商，RQ）均低于1，土霉素在三个出水样本中的RQ值大于1。总RQs代表各RQs之和，表明11个出水样本呈现高风险（27.50%），而17个出水样本呈现中等风险（42.50%）。这些发现表明，乡镇污水处理厂可能是环境中抗生素和ARGs的重要来源，需要进一步改进处理工艺以有效消除它们。
