Pathogens which cling to microplastics may survive wastewater treatment
Biofilms on microplastics appear to provide a protective environment for viruses and foodborne bacteria
image:
Wastewater handling in the lab.
view moreCredit: Ingun Lund Witsø., CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Wastewater treatment fails to kill several human pathogens when they hide out on microplastics in the water, reports a new study led by Ingun Lund Witsø of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, published November 6, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Wastewater treatment plants are designed to remove contaminants from wastewater, but microplastics persist and can become colonized by a sticky microbial biofilm. Previous research has suggested that these microbial communities, called plastispheres, include potential pathogens, and thus might pose a risk to human health and the environment when treated wastewater and sludge are released.
In the new study, researchers identified food-borne pathogens in plastispheres living on three types of plastic in wastewater. They cultured the microorganisms and used genetic techniques to understand the diversity and members of the plastisphere communities. The team found evidence of pathogenic bacteria and viruses, including Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, norovirus and adenovirus. They also successfully grew Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. from raw and treated wastewater, indicating that the plastisphere biofilms likely protect the pathogens from wastewater treatment.
These findings highlight the potential of plastispheres to harbor and spread pathogens, which poses a challenge to safely reusing wastewater. Without efficient wastewater treatment and plastic waste management, wastewater could act as a vehicle for transferring plastic-associated pathogens into the food chain. The researchers emphasize that continued research and innovation are essential to remove microplastics – and their pathogens – from wastewater.
The authors add: “Plastics in wastewater treatment plants are colonized by microbial biofilms, or “plastispheres,” which can harbor pathogens, including Listeria, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter spp., that persist through treatment processes. This study highlights the potential for plastispheres to contribute to the spread of pathogens from treated wastewater, posing challenges for environmental health and water reuse efforts.”
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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0312157
Citation: Witsø IL, Basson A, Aspholm M, Wasteson Y, Myrmel M (2024) Wastewater-associated plastispheres: A hidden habitat for microbial pathogens? PLoS ONE 19(11): e0312157. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0312157
Author Countries: Norway
Funding: This work was supported by The Norwegian Research Council grant (PLASTPATH project number 302996). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS ONE
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Cells
Article Title
Wastewater-associated plastispheres: A hidden habitat for microbial pathogens?
Article Publication Date
6-Nov-2024
Sewage surveillance proves powerful in combating antimicrobial resistance
Research from an interdisciplinary team at Virginia Tech shows public health promise
image:
Amy Pruden (kneeling) and Peter Vikesland examine a wastewater sample.
view moreCredit: Photo by Dawn Jefferies for Virginia Tech.
Waterborne diseases affect over 7 million people in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and cost our health care system over $3 billion. But they don’t impact all people equally.
A campuswide collaboration is using sewage surveillance as a vital strategy in the fight against diseases that spread through the water such as legionella and shigella. The ones that are most difficult to combat are diseases with antimicrobial resistance, which means they are able to survive against antibiotics that are intended to kill them.
A recent paper in Nature Water offers an encouraging insight: Monitoring sewage for antimicrobial resistance indicators is proving to be more efficient and more comprehensive than testing individuals. This approach not only detects antimicrobial resistance more effectively but also reveals its connection to socioeconomic factors, which are often key drivers of the spread of resistance.
The paper’s corresponding author is Peter Vikesland, the Pryor Professor of Engineering in the civil and environmental engineering department. The full list of authors at Virginia Tech, in addition to Vikesland, are:
- Suraj Gupta, computer science
- Xiaowei Wu, statistics
- Liqing Zhang, computer science
- Amy Pruden, civil and environmental engineering
The team is collaborating across Virginia Tech with experts such as Leigh-Anne Krometis in biological systems engineering and Alasdair Cohen and Julia Gohlke in population health sciences to focus on serving rural communities where the issues are most acute.
The significance
Globally, low-to middle-income communities bear the brunt of infectious diseases and the challenges of antimicrobial resistance. Sewage surveillance could be a game changer in addressing these disparities. This method not only captures a snapshot of antimicrobial resistance at the community level, but also reveals how socioeconomic factors drive the issue.
The study
The National Science Foundation Research Traineeship focuses on advancing sewage surveillance to combat antimicrobial resistance. The work is integral to broader efforts led by Vikesland and the Fralin Life Sciences Institute program for technology enabled environmental surveillance and control to sense and monitor waterborne health threats.
The study analyzed data from 275 human fecal samples across 23 countries and 234 urban sewage samples from 62 countries to investigate antibiotic resistance gene levels. Socio-economic data, including health and governance indicators from World Bank databases, were incorporated to explore links between antibiotic resistance genes and socio-economic factors. The group utilized machine learning to assess antibiotic resistance gene abundance in relation to socio-economic factors, revealing significant correlations. Statistical methods supported the finding that within country antibiotic resistance gene variation was lower than between countries.
Big picture, the team's findings show sewage surveillance is emerging as a powerful tool in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. It even has the potential to protect vulnerable communities more effectively.
Journal
Nature Water
Article Title
Global scale exploration of human faecal and sewage resistomes as a function of socio-economic status
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