Urbanization Fuels Antibiotic Resistance in Micro-Plastics

(Newswire.net — October 20, 2022) Orlando, FL — Scientists have been carrying out studies to investigate the various aspects of antibiotic resistance, which has long been known to be a major global health threat.

A study was carried out and it found that urbanization fuels antibiotic resistance in micro-plastics.

The findings of this research were published in Environmental Science & Technology.

This research involved analyzing antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) on five types of microplastics at different locations along the Beilun River in China. The investigators have particularly found higher abundances in urban than rural areas.

It is worth mentioning that in rivers, the major sources of microplastics include textile fibers from water bottle fragments, textile fibers from laundering, and films from bags and wrappers. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and ARGs are also found prevalent in rivers, and they are introduced through agricultural runoff and wastewater discharge. 

Experts say that micro-plastics actually have the ability to act as a favorable surface not just for bacteria to colonize but also grow into biofilms, where they can share ARGs among themselves. 

In this study, Li Cui and colleagues immersed samples of five kinds of micro-plastics in the Beilun River at 14 sites with different urbanization levels. Thirty days after, they gathered the microplastics and used a high-throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

It was done to analyze almost all types of ARGs and the mobile genetic elements that aid in spreading them among bacteria. 

The investigators detected ARGs conferred resistance to nearly all major classes of antibiotics used in humans and animals. It is further worth noting that the abundance of these genes and genetic elements actually increases by around 1,000 times from rural to urban areas.

It has further been revealed that the diversity of ARGs increased. As a matter of fact of the five types of plastics, polypropylene was most abundant in ARGs and had the greatest risk of spreading the genes.

Health authorities continue to release some guidelines potentially helpful in fighting antibiotic resistance. Warding off UTIs could help lessen antibiotic use and demand, which in turn could reduce the rates of antibiotic misuse or overuse. 

Today, there are all-natural UTI-fighting ingredients like D-mannose that gain increasing popularity in the global market. There are actually many people who resort to its use in warding off infection. 

Divine Bounty D-mannose could be an excellent choice for individuals who want to benefit from the healing goodness of this remedy. This unique and highly potent formula is made in an FDA-inspected facility in the U.S. and even comes with a money-back guarantee. (www.amazon.com/D-Mannose-600mg-Cranberry-Dandelion-Extract/dp/B01LX5KGF0)