Fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria in urban wastewater treatment plants

Antibiotics are continuously released into the environment thus resulting in a risk for aquatic and terrestrial organisms health. Most important, at concentrations typically detected into the environment, they can promote the development of antibiotic resistance in bacterial population, thus making antibiotics ineffective in the treatment of several diseases. Urban wastewater treatment plants (UWWTPs) are among the anthropogenic sources of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) spreading into the environment. In this work, after an introduction to antibiotics and ARB spreading into the environment, the fate of antibiotics and ARB in conventional UWWTPs was briefly reviewed. The mechanisms by which biological process can effect the removal of antibiotics and ARB fate was addressed as well as the effect of disinfection process on ARB. The lack of information on the interaction between antibiotics and ARB in UWWTPs as well as on the removal of ARB by disinfection process suggests further studies to prevent and control their release and spreading into the environment