Comparison of different salt solutions for density separation of conventional and biodegradable microplastic from solid sample matrices.

Microplastics are the new emerging pollutants ubiquitously detectable in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Fate and behavior, as well as ecotoxicity, are of increasing environmental concern, particularly in sediments and soils as natural sinks. For a global environmental risk assessment, reliable and easy to apply analytical methods are mandatory to obtain comparable data.

Reclaimed water driven lettuce cultivation in a hydroponic system: the need of micropollutant removal by advanced wastewater treatment.

For a novel approach of resource-efficient water reuse, a municipal wastewater treatment plant was extended at pilot scale for advanced wastewater treatment, i.e., ozonation and biological activated carbon filtration, and a hydroponic system for reclaimed water driven lettuce cultivation.

Bulk soil and maize rhizosphere resistance genes, mobile genetic elements and microbial communities are differently impacted by organic and inorganic fertilization.

Organic soil fertilizers, such as livestock manure and biogas digestate, frequently contain bacteria carrying resistance genes (RGs) to antimicrobial substances and mobile genetic elements (MGEs). The effects of different fertilizers (inorganic, manure, digestate) on RG and MGE abundance and microbial community composition were investigated in a field plot experiment. The relative abundances of RGs [sul1, sul2, tet(A), tet(M), tet(Q), tet(W), qacEΔ1/qacE] and MGEs [intI1, intI2, IncP-1, IncP-1ε and LowGC plasmids] in total community (TC)-DNA from organic fertilizers, bulk soil and maize rhizosphere were quantified by qPCR before/after fertilization and prior to maize harvest.

Soil texture-depending effects of doxycycline and streptomycin applied with manure on the bacterial community composition and resistome.

Veterinary antibiotics, bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance determinants located on mobile genetic elements and nutrients are spread on agricultural soil using manure as fertilizer. However, systematic quantitative studies linking antibiotic concentrations and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in manure and the environment are scarce but needed to assess environmental risks. In this microcosm study, a sandy and a loamy soil were mixed with manure spiked with streptomycin or doxycycline at five concentrations.

Contaminations of organic fertilizers with antibiotic residues, resistance genes, and mobile genetic elements mirroring antibiotic use in livestock?

Pig manures are frequently used as fertilizer or co-substrate in biogas plants (BGPs) and typically contain antibiotic residues (ARs), as well as bacteria carrying resistance genes (RGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs). A survey of manures from eight pig fattening and six pig breeding farms and digestates from eight BGPs in Lower Saxony, Germany was conducted to evaluate the link between antibiotic usage and ARs to RGs and MGEs present in organic fertilizers. In total, 11 different antibiotics belonging to six substance classes were applied in the farms investigated.