The Safety of Consuming Water Dropwort Used to Purify Livestock Wastewater Considering Accumulated Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes
Dongrui Yao,
Yajun Chang,
Wei Wang,
Linhe Sun,
Jixiang Liu,
Huijun Zhao,
Weiguo Zhang
Affiliations
Dongrui Yao
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Yajun Chang
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Wei Wang
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Linhe Sun
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Jixiang Liu
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for the Research and Utilization of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Nanjing Botanical Garden Memorial Sun Yat-Sen), Nanjing 210014, China
Huijun Zhao
College of Geography and Environmental Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Weiguo Zhang
Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China
Research is lacking on the health risks of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in water dropwort grown in livestock wastewater. Our results showed that antibiotics from livestock wastewater were absorbed and bioaccumulated by water dropwort. The concentration of antibiotics was higher in the roots than in the stems and leaves. The health-risk coefficients of antibiotics in water dropwort were below the threshold (6 to 7.75 × 1012 copies g−1, suggesting the potential risk of intaking ARGs in water dropwort cannot be ignored. Although the safety of consuming water dropwort used to purify livestock wastewater, considering accumulated antibiotics and ARGs, was assessed in this study, more studies should be conducted to ensure we fully understand the health risks.
