Antibiotic residues and ARGs in groundwater environments

The scope of the present work was to evaluate the spread of antibiotic residues, ARGs, MGEs and the microbial contamination in groundwater environments at various distances from urban areas using a culture-independent approach and to determine specific aspects that could be related to anthropic activity. The working hypothesis was that wells with close proximity to urban areas with high anthropic activity are more vulnerable to antibiotic and microbial contamination, as well as to antimicrobial resistance. Thus site selection was focused on areas suspected to be susceptible to contamination from either animal or human wastewaters and also on those that are more isolated and considered pristine environments from Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and surrounding areas. Furthermore, we investigated if specific ARGs could be used as reliable anthropic activity tracers that could follow the pattern of environmental pollution in groundwater.