Paraben resistance in bacteria from sewage treatment plant effluents in India

Abstract

Parabens, the antimicrobial preservatives used in cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals, are often detected in the aquatic environment. Generally, sewage treatment plants (STPs) receive community sewage containing parabens, which are ultimately released into streams/rivers. In this study, bacteria in STP effluents were evaluated for their resistance to parabens. The susceptibility was in the order of Staphylococcus aureus > Bacillus sp. >Escherichia coli > Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Gram-negative bacteria showed less susceptibility than their control and Gram-positive bacteria. Further, the bacteria were more sensitive towards butyl and ethyl parabens. Interestingly, the strains showed resistance to ≥5 mg of parabens, which is equivalent to or higher than reported environmental concentrations. The increase in paraben chain length did not enhance the susceptibility in all cases and it was understood that the activity may differ for each bacterium in the environment. This is the first profile on paraben resistance in common pathogens of Indian STPs. Paraben resistance may be developed due to continuous exposure even at sub-inhibitory and/or chronic levels in the environment and this resistance may be transferred to other pathogenic bacteria in receiving waters. Thus the study demonstrates the effectiveness of the disc diffusion method in environmental bacterial resistance assessment and addresses the risk involved in the use of parabens.

Urban Evolution: The Role of Water

“…For example, the amplified hydrologic pulse of urban ecosystems is expected to change due to the interactive effects of land use and climate change across different areas of the U.S. and elsewhere [79,[93][94][95][96], and this may trigger urban adaptation and evolution of ecosystem structure and function of urban drainage [44,90]. As another example, the number and concentrations of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in the chemical diet of urban watersheds can be expected to increase in the future, and there are questions regarding urban adaptation from individual organisms and ecosystem responses to environmental regulations globally [128][129][130][131]. Additionally, there has been a rise in novel urban hydrologic systems during the Anthropocene era in response to urban adaptations of green roofs, rain gardens, and artificial lakes in cities from humid to arid regions [19,61,132,133].…”

Environmental Risk Assessment of Personal Care Products

“…Recent studies confirmed antibacterial resistance of PCPs (parabens, triclosan) from wastewater and surface water [11,71]. Selvaraj et al [11] reported bacterial resistance in common pathogens in effluents of sewage treatment plants in India for parabens and suggested the possible transfer of resistant genes to other pathogenic bacteria in natural waters because of the release of untreated wastewaters directly into the environment. Moreover, the resistant strains have the potency to modify PCPs into toxic compounds [72] which may further affect the organisms.…”

“…As we are aware, the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospital, industrial [8], as well as domestic wastewater [9] environment is not uncommon; nevertheless, increasing use of antimicrobial compounds leads to similar problem of resistance in bacteria from sewage and surface water, drinking water, etc. [10][11][12]. Bacterial resistance for PCPs such as parabens in aquatic system is a growing environmental problem [11].…”

“…[10][11][12]. Bacterial resistance for PCPs such as parabens in aquatic system is a growing environmental problem [11]. Moreover, a number of pollutants (i.e., pesticides, pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, etc.)…”

Effect of butyl paraben on the development and microbial composition of periphyton

“…Results suggested that BP had no effect on carbon source metabolism of the bacteria within the periphyton biofilm in all tested concentration levels. Selvaraj et al (2013) evaluated four bacteria strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus sp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in sewage treatment plants effluents for their response to parabens, and found that the strains showed resistance up to C5 mg of parabens. The lowest observed effect concentration in an acute toxicity test was 0.7 mg L -1 BP for Vibrio fischeri and 8.5 mg L -1 MP for Photobacterium leiognathi (Bazin et al 2010).…”