The emergence and prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment is a serious global health concern. ARGs found in bacteria can become mobilized in bacteriophage particles in the environment. Sludge derived from secondary treatment in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) constitutes a concentrated pool of bacteria and phages that are removed during the treatment process. This study evaluates the prevalence of ARGs in the bacterial and phage fractions of anaerobic digested sludge; five ARGs (blaTEM, blaCTX-M, qnrA, qnrS, and sul1) are quantified by qPCR. Comparison between the wastewater and sludge revealed a shift in the prevalence of ARGs (blaTEM and sul1 became more prevalent in sludge), suggesting there is a change in the bacterial and phage populations from wastewater to those selected during the secondary treatment and the later anaerobic mesophilic digestion of the sludge. ARGs densities were higher in the bacterial than in the phage fraction, with high densities in both fractions; particularly for blaTEM and sul1 (5 and 8 log10 gene copies (GC)/g, respectively, in bacterial DNA; 5.5 and 4.4 log10 GC/g, respectively, in phage DNA). These results question the potential agricultural uses of treated sludge, as it could contribute to the spread of ARGs in the environment and have an impact on the bacterial communities of the receiving ecosystem.
Sulfoxidation of fatty acid methyl esters with SO 2, O 2 and ultraviolet light of appropriate wavelength, has led to the synthesis of methyl esters sulfonates or sulfoxylates, known as U-MES, because of the possible random position of SO 3 group in the alkyl chain. Aqueous solutions based on the sulfoxylated methyl ester of palmitic acid (U-MES C16) have been studied and compared to the leading types of surfactants used today: linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) secondary alkane sulfonate (SAS) and asulfo fatty methyl ester sulfonate (a-MES) with regard to solubility, performance and skin compatibility. The experimental results obtained indicate that U-MES C16 can be regarded as a potential component of detergent formulations and most likely also of body care products.
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