Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
Volume 301, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113891
Keywords
Sulfamethoxazole; Ciprofloxacin; Cattle manure; Digestate; Zootechnical waste
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This study investigated the potential contamination of antibiotics and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in agroecosystems through using digestate as biofertilizer, showing that anaerobic digesters in Central Italy had high concentrations of antibiotics, especially during winter and spring. The highest abundances of ARGs were found for the aac-(6')-Ib-cr and sul2 genes, indicating a potential risk of spread of ARGs in soil upon application of digestate.
In recent decades, the innovative practice of management and valorization of agrozootechnical waste as energy through anaerobic digestion (AD) has been rapidly growing. However, whether applying digestate to soil as biofertilizer can be a source of antibiotics (ABs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) has not been fully investigated so far. In this work the ARGs responsible for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) resistance (sul1, sul2), ciprofloxacin (CIP) resistance (qnrS, qepA, aac-(6 ')-Ib-cr) and the mobile genetic element intl1, together with the concentrations of the antibiotics SMX and CIP, were measured in several anaerobic digesters located in Central Italy. Based on these results, the concentrations of antibiotics and ARGs which can potentially reach soil through amendment with digestate were also estimated. The highest CIP and SMX concentrations were found during winter and spring in anaerobic digesters. The highest ARG abundances were found for the aac-(6')-Ib-cr and sul2 genes. The overall results showed that application of digestate to soil does not exclude AB contamination and spread of ARGs in agroecosystems, especially in the case of ciprofloxacin, owing to its high intrinsic persistence.
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