Sammendrag
Wastewater (WW) has been identified as a major hotspot of microbial emerging
contaminants (MECs), such as antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance
genes (ARGs). Currently used WW treatment methods cannot efficiently eliminate
these pollutants, resulting in passive contamination of adjacent environments receiving
undertreated discharge. More effective WW treatment strategies are therefore urgently
required. In this study, newly developed and well-characterised semi-interpenetrating
polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogels derived from the valorisation of marine wastes
(e.g., shrimp shells) were investigated for their ARG removal potential. The results
indicated that multiple ARGs prevalent in WW, such as ermB, qrnS, sul1 and tetO, were
removed by up to 100% after being treated by novel hydrogels. In terms of horizontal
gene transfer-associated genetic elements, such as integron-1 intl1, transposons tnpA1
(IS4 group) and tnpA2 (IS6 group), substantial reduction approaching 99.9% was also
achieved. Moreover, up to 97% of efflux pump-associated qacE∆1 conferring multidrug
resistance (MR) was successfully attenuated. To conclude, the semi-INP hydrogels
developed exhibited great potential for ARG mitigation towards strengthening WW
decontamination, which provides a viable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly
novel treatment approach.
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