Antimicrobial Resistance in Domestic and Industrial Wastewater

The capabilities of antibiotics to fight against bacterial infections have been a major breakthrough in modern medicine, and their application has continued since the first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered in 1929 by A. Fleming. Other antimicrobial agents that have been discovered in later times have contributed significantly to controlling infections spread in humans, animals, and plants, which save lives and increase productivity. However, a widespread indiscriminate use of antibiotics has created unintended consequences, and their effectiveness is now in jeopardy. With continuous use of these antimicrobial agents, microbes in due course of time evolve and become resistant, which makes antimicrobial treatments less effective. Antimicrobial compounds that are being released into the environment in association with other factors selectively create pressure on the natural microbial population and consequently inherited or acquired antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have evolved and got proliferated. Different kinds of human activities create pollution in environment, which enhances the emergence of AMR in the environment and its adverse effects are manifested in mammals, especially in humans, livestock, and plant diseases. Loss in soil biodiversity and fertility due to AMRs has also been a major concern, which further increases the use of antimicrobials (leading to a negative feedback from its initial use) and ultimately the selective pressure further increases. In the environment, the dimensions of AMR are characterized by their cyclic dynamics and interrelationships, which cause multiple causalities. Hence, research for newer and novel antibiotic classes is one of the main strategies to combat AMR and the many newly launched antibiotics that have been launched since the 1980s, which were synthesized either by modifications or improvements in known molecules. Resistance caused by various antimicrobial agents, its consequences on microbial communities, and pollution in domestic and wastewater have all been discussed in this chapter.