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Salgueiro-Gonzalez N, Béen F, Bijlsma L, Boogaerts T, Covaci A, Baz-Lomba JA, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Matias J, Ort C, Bodík I, Heath E, Styszko K, Emke E, Hernández F, van Nuijs ALN, Castiglioni S. Influent wastewater analysis to investigate emerging trends of new psychoactive substances use in Europe. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 254:121390. [PMID: 38430760 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can provide objective and timely information on the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), originally designed as legal alternatives of internationally controlled drugs. NPS have rapidly emerged on the global drug market, posing a challenge to drug policy and constituting a risk to public health. In this study, a WBE approach was applied to monitor the use of more than 300 NPS, together with fentanyl and its main metabolite norfentanyl, in influent wastewater collected from 12 European cities during March-June 2021. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of NPS in composite 24 h influent wastewater samples were based on solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In-sample stability tests demonstrated the suitability of most investigated biomarkers, except for a few synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids and phenetylamines. Fentanyl, norfentanyl and eight NPS were quantified in influent wastewater and at least three substances were found in each city, demonstrating their use in Europe. N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) were the most common NPS found, with the latter having the highest mass loads (up to 24.8 mg/day/1000 inhabitants). Seven additional substances, belonging to five categories of NPS, were identified in different cities. Spatial trends of NPS use were observed between cities and countries, and a changing weekly profile of use was observed for 3-MMC. WBE is a useful tool to rapidly evaluate emerging trends of NPS use, complementing common indicators (i.e. population surveys, seizures) and helping to establish measures for public health protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelia Salgueiro-Gonzalez
- Department of Environmental Health Science, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri - IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
| | - Frederic Béen
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands; Chemistry for Environment and Health, Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Lubertus Bijlsma
- Environmental and Public Health Analytical Chemistry, Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain
| | - Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jose Antonio Baz-Lomba
- Department of Infection Control and Preparedness, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Environmental Chemistry, Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalleen 21, Oslo N-0349, Norway
| | | | - João Matias
- European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Christoph Ort
- Eawag, Urban Water Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Igor Bodík
- Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Ester Heath
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia; International Postgraduate School Jožef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Erik Emke
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
| | - Félix Hernández
- Environmental and Public Health Analytical Chemistry, Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain
| | | | - Sara Castiglioni
- Department of Environmental Health Science, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri - IRCCS, Milan, Italy
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2
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Guo K, Liu Y, Peng J, Qi W, Liu H. Chlorination of antiviral drug ribavirin: Kinetics, nontargeted identification, and concomitant toxicity evolution. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 467:133478. [PMID: 38359766 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Residual antiviral drugs in wastewater may increase the risk of generating transformation products (TPs) during wastewater treatment. Therefore, chlorination behavior and toxicity evolution are essential to understand the secondary ecological risk associated with their TPs. Herein, chlorination kinetics, transformation pathways, and secondary risks of ribavirin (RBV), one of the most commonly used broad-spectrum antivirals, were investigated. The pH-dependent second-order rate constants k increased from 0.18 M-1·s-1 (pH 5.8) to 1.53 M-1·s-1 (pH 8.0) due to neutral RBV and ClO- as dominant species. 12 TPs were identified using high-resolution mass spectrometry in a nontargeted approach, of which 6 TPs were reported for the first time, and their chlorination pathways were elucidated. The luminescence inhibition rate of Vibrio fischeri exposed to chlorinated RBV solution was positively correlated with initial free active chlorine, probably due to the accumulation of toxic TPs. Quantitative structure-activity relationship prediction identified 7 TPs with elevated toxicity, concentrating on developmental toxicity and bioconcentration factors, which explained the increased toxicity of chlorinated RBV. Overall, this study highlights the urgent need to minimize the discharge of toxic chlorinated TPs into aquatic environments and contributes to environmental risk control in future pandemics and regions with high consumption of antivirals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kehui Guo
- Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yang Liu
- Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jianfeng Peng
- Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Weixiao Qi
- Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Huijuan Liu
- Center for Water and Ecology, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
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Xu Y, Liu Y, Liang C, Guo W, Ngo HH, Peng L. Favipiravir biotransformation by a side-stream partial nitritation sludge: Transformation mechanisms, pathways and toxicity evaluation. CHEMOSPHERE 2024; 353:141580. [PMID: 38430943 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.141580] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Information on biotransformation of antivirals in the side-stream partial nitritation (PN) process was limited. In this study, a side-stream PN sludge was adopted to investigate favipiravir biotransformation under controlled ammonium and pH levels. Results showed that free nitrous acid (FNA) was an important factor that inhibited ammonia oxidation and the cometabolic biodegradation of favipiravir induced by ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB). The removal efficiency of favipiravir reached 12.6% and 35.0% within 6 days at the average FNA concentrations of 0.07 and 0.02 mg-N L-1, respectively. AOB-induced cometabolism was the sole contributing mechanism to favipiravir removal, excluding AOB-induced metabolism and heterotrophic bacteria-induced biodegradation. The growth of Escherichia coli was inhibited by favipiravir, while the AOB-induced cometabolism facilitated the alleviation of the antimicrobial activities with the formed transformation products. The biotransformation pathways were proposed based on the roughly identified structures of transformation products, which mainly involved hydroxylation, nitration, dehydrogenation and covalent bond breaking under enzymatic conditions. The findings would provide insights on enriching AOB abundance and enhancing AOB-induced cometabolism under FNA stress when targeting higher removal of antivirals during the side-stream wastewater treatment processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifeng Xu
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China
| | - Yaxuan Liu
- School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China
| | - Chuanzhou Liang
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China
| | - Wenshan Guo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2007, Australia
| | - Huu Hao Ngo
- Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2007, Australia
| | - Lai Peng
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China; School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan, 430070, China.
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Wen J, Duan L, Wang B, Dong Q, Liu Y, Chen C, Huang J, Yu G. In-sewer stability assessment of 140 pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides and their metabolites: Implications for wastewater-based epidemiology biomarker screening. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 184:108465. [PMID: 38324926 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
The monitoring of pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PCPs), pesticides, and their metabolites through wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides timely information on pharmaceutical consumption patterns, chronic disease treatment rates, antibiotic usage, and exposure to harmful chemicals. However, before applying them for quantitative WBE back-estimation, it is necessary to understand their stability in the sewer system to screen suitable WBE biomarkers thereby reducing research uncertainty. This study investigated the in-sewer stability of 140 typical pharmaceuticals, PCPs, pesticides, and their metabolites across 15 subcategories, using a series of laboratory sewer sediment and biofilm reactors. For the first time, stability results for 89 of these compounds were reported. Among the 140 target compounds, 61 biomarkers demonstrated high stability in all sewer reactors, while 41 biomarkers were significantly removed merely by sediment processes. For biomarkers exhibiting notable attenuation, the influence of sediment processes was generally more pronounced than biofilm, due to its stronger microbial activities and more pronounced diffusion or adsorption processes. Adsorption emerged as the predominant factor causing biomarker removal compared to biodegradation and diffusion. Significantly different organic carbon-water partitioning coefficient (Koc) and distribution coefficient at pH = 7 (logD) values were observed between highly stable and unstable biomarkers, with most hydrophobic substances (Koc > 100 or logD > 2) displaying instability. In light of these findings, we introduced a primary biomarker screening process to efficiently exclude inappropriate candidates, achieving a commendable 77 % accuracy. Overall, this study represents the first comprehensive report on the in-sewer stability of 89 pharmaceuticals, PCPs, pesticides, and their metabolites, and provided crucial reference points for understanding the intricate sewer sediment processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaqi Wen
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Beijing Laboratory for Environmental Frontier Technologies, China
| | - Lei Duan
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Beijing Laboratory for Environmental Frontier Technologies, China
| | - Bin Wang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Beijing Laboratory for Environmental Frontier Technologies, China
| | - Qian Dong
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Yanchen Liu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Chao Chen
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Jun Huang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Beijing Laboratory for Environmental Frontier Technologies, China
| | - Gang Yu
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Beijing Laboratory for Environmental Frontier Technologies, China; Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, 519087, China.
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Li J, Choi PM, Gao J, Ren J, O'Brien JW, Thomas KV, Mueller JF, Thai PK, Jiang G. In-sewer stability of 31 human health biomarkers and suitability for wastewater-based epidemiology. WATER RESEARCH 2024; 249:120978. [PMID: 38071905 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Monitoring urinary markers of dietary, disease, and stress by wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a promising tool to better understand population health and wellbeing. However, common urinary biomarkers are subject to degradation in sewer systems and their fates have to be assessed before they can be used in WBE. This study investigated the stability of 31 urinary biomarkers (12 food biomarkers, 8 vitamins, 9 oxidative stress biomarkers, and 1 histamine biomarker) in a laboratory sewer sediment reactor and evaluated their suitability for WBE, considering their detectability in real wastewater and in-sewer stability. These biomarkers showed various transformation patterns, among which 16 compounds had half-lives <2 h while other 15 compounds presented moderate to high stability (2 to >500 h). Thirteen biomarkers showed potential for WBE because of their consistently measurable concentrations in untreated wastewater and sufficient in-sewer stability. Eighteen biomarkers were unsuitable due to their rapid in-sewer degradation and/or undetectable concentration levels in untreated wastewater using previous methods. Transformation rates of these biomarkers showed generally weak relationships with molecular properties but relatively higher correlations with biological activities in sewers. Overall, this study determined in-sewer stability of 31 health-related biomarkers through laboratory experiments, providing new findings to WBE for population health assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaying Li
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia; Water Unit, Health Protection and Regulation Branch, Queensland Public Health and Scientific Services, Queensland Health, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Jianfa Gao
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Jianan Ren
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Jake W O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia; Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences (HIMS), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia.
| | - Guangming Jiang
- School of Civil, Mining, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Wollongong, Australia
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Ugolini V, Lai FY. Novel, alternative analytical methodology for determination of antimicrobial chemicals in aquatic environments and public use assessment: Extraction sorbent, microbiological sensitivity, stability, and applicability. Anal Chim Acta 2024; 1286:342029. [PMID: 38049233 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2023.342029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Assessing antimicrobial chemicals from wastewater source to recipient water systems is crucial in planning effective, policy-related interventions for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) risk mitigation. However, the capability of related analytical methods for AMR assessment has not been explored previously. There is also a lack of knowledge on the effectiveness of alternative extraction sorbents with ion-exchange functions, and little information on chemical stability from sampling to analysis as well as preservative options. Hence, our study aims to address the clear need for advanced, broad-range and microbiologically-sensitive methodologies, paired with thorough stability assessments. RESULTS Oasis® WCX ion-exchange was for the first time employed in solid-phase extraction (SPE) for antibacterials, antifungals, antivirals and human metabolites in various water matrices. Analysis was performed using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on a biphenyl analytical column. The optimized and validated method provided satisfactory accuracy, precision, and recovery for 53 compounds via LC-MS/MS direct injection and for up to 35 compounds via SPE-LC-MS/MS. Method quantification limits (MQLs) were determined in groundwater (0.33-54 ng L-1), surface water (0.53-75 ng L-1), effluent wastewater (2.5-470 ng L-1), and influent wastewater (11-650 ng L-1). As a novel approach, MQLs were compared with minimum inhibitory concentrations, to confirm our method's microbiological sensitivity for studying AMR. Stability assessment revealed that most compounds remained stable in standard solution at -80 °C for six months, in various waters at -20 °C for eight weeks, and during 24-h sampling at 4 °C. Sodium azide was a better preservative than sodium metabisulfite. SIGNIFICANCE Our study is an added value to the analytical methodology for water measurements of antimicrobial chemicals, in which it provides a novel, alternative method that is robust and overall more sensitive than others using generic Oasis® HLB sorbents and C18 analytical columns in SPE-LC-MS/MS. Also, the comprehensive data on antimicrobial stability helps reduce methodological uncertainty for future studies. Our method shows sufficient microbiologically-sensitivity and thus is suitable for future (inter)national regulatory water monitoring of AMR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Ugolini
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, SE-75007, Sweden.
| | - Foon Yin Lai
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, SE-75007, Sweden.
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Xu L, Kasprzyk-Hordern B. Assessment of the stability of antimicrobials and resistance genes during short- and long-term storage condition: accounting for uncertainties in bioanalytical workflows. Anal Bioanal Chem 2023; 415:6027-6038. [PMID: 37526655 PMCID: PMC10556160 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-023-04874-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
Unravelling complexities in antimicrobial agent-microbe interactions in the context of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) requires robust analytical workflows accounting for all uncertainties. Temporal storage of wastewater samples under refrigerated or frozen conditions prior to chemical and biological analysis is widely used to facilitate laboratory routine but may affect stability of analytes over time. Yet, little knowledge exists regarding stability of biological and chemical determinants in environmental samples, which hampers validity of research outputs. This study examines, for the first time, the stability of 32 antimicrobials (AAs) including commonly used classes of antibiotics and their representative metabolites and variation of 5 antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) (ermB, sul1, tetW, blaCTX-M, qnrS), as well as intI1 and 16S rRNA genes in a reference wastewater sample stored under freezing condition for up to 1 year. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) and quantitative PCR (qPCR) techniques were adopted to measure concentration of AAs and ARGs, respectively. Results suggested that parent compounds are less affected by freezing storage compared to the metabolites. β-Lactams, clindamycin, and N-desmethyl clindamycin are the most-affected compounds which were poorly recovered (34-67%) from the starting concentration. By contrast, sulfonamides, macrolides, quinolones, and azoles are generally stable under freezing condition. No consistent differences were observed in gene copies between fresh and frozen samples, and ermB and tetW showed the highest variabilities at 30% under freezing condition. Overall, this study adds to the current knowledge on environmental AMR monitoring and emphasises the need for standardised protocols for AMR monitoring in the wastewater samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Like Xu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
- Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
- Water and Innovation Research Centre, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
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