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Ref: Antibiotic Resistance Genes [ARGs] as Emerging Contaminants: Studies in Northern Colorado
This brief relates to crops, organic or not, that are exposed to byproducts from sewage, whether reclaimed wastewater
or sewer sludge and its composted products. This is an open train of thought to initiate discussion.
People; please note the abstract below. It will be important to obtain and digest this paper. Frank and staff of Senator
Florez, note that the ARGs are evidently able to pass through drinking water treatment to arrive in the treated and
delivered water. Thus if merely tertiary treatment of wastewater is the limit of what is used for the irrigation of crops,
including organic crops in the Salinas, we have another issue to discuss---accumulation of ARGs in the soil and thus
transfer to the crop and soil microbes. This then gets into the gut flora of nematodes and their ability to move through
plant tissue. Thus for the eaten-raw crops, this is no small matter. The genetic information will be passed to the human
gut flora.
Also please consider that CA Kinney has recently published on the pharmaceutical levels found in treated wastewater.
He notes, as does Kummerer, that these levels are sufficient to either maintain or induce resistance. We also know from
other studies that exposure to heavy metals and farm chemicals will induce resistance systems in bacteria that are
parallel to those found conferring antibiotic resistance. What may be absent in this latter case is virulence, but that can
easily be supplied via wastewater or sludge coming from municipal sources, especially those municipal sources that are
hooked to hospitals and other facilities for the very sick (see e.g., V Chitnis or Kate Brown’s work).
There is thus the problem with current standards, such as Title 22 that have a poor record of actually seeing pathogens.
Thus, through the use of such standards we have a false sense of security and reliance on such standards allows for a
continued risk for the consumer.
One of the approaches we should consider is a paper to one of the organic foods journals alerting the readership that
current standards do not work. By relying on such standards the consumer may be taking in that which they are
attempting to avoid---and paying a premium for such. This includes not only pharmaceuticals, resistant bacteria and
viruses with acquired genetic information that can confer resistance---in addition to bacteria in the lysogenic state where
such bacteria may not be considered as pathogens--- and additionally ARGs that can then be transferred to the gut
flora. In such cases of the gut bacteria, once there is learned resistance, this may be maintained for up to four years---
assuming no further intake of antibiotics (see Sjolund et al. 2005). But if one is getting this through the food and water,
we may just be walking around with an augmented background of resistant gut bacteria---i.e., we are walking time-
bombs. I have discussed this with colleagues in academia who have been testing their students. There is a growing level
of resistance in otherwise clinically healthy young people. Thus an incoming pathogen that is able to pick up this
information may see initial rounds of antibiotics fail.
Now, for those that have prosthetic implants, this is critical. An infection in such persons may see an unstoppable
infection set up at the implant-tissue interface. This is due to limited circulation in such areas---usually because scar
tissue is poorly supplied with capillaries, hence antimicrobilas can not reach these areas. Consequently there may be
the establishment of biofilms which are virtually immune to disinfection. Because these conditiona are very difficult to
control there may be the need for removal of the prosthetic device. If we think about this, it will become apparent that a
very large portion of the population now has some kind of implant---heart valves, certain stints, pace makers, spinal
fusion, hip joints, and knee joints, etc. We are talking about not only a large subset of the population but vast expenses
and potential mortality---remove a heart valve is out of the question in most cases so one lives with a smoldering
infection. If this is vegetative but resistant to antimicrobials, the eventual destruction of the valves may be the result.
Remove of a pacemaker and what have you got?
This vastly increased human risk and potentially unnecessary burden on an already stressed health care system should
not be the cost of subsidizing cheap waste disposal, especially in a growing energy deficit nation where much of the
solids coming from sewage could be converted to energy.
There are technologies available to obviate much of this impact but the status quo seems reluctant to consider such---
but that is what status quo is about.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Environ. Sci. Technol., 40 (23), 7445 -7450, 2006. 10.1021/es060413l S0013-936X(06)00413-5
Web Release Date: August 15, 2006 Copyright © 2006 American Chemical Society
Antibiotic Resistance Genes as Emerging Contaminants: Studies in Northern Colorado
Amy Pruden,* Ruoting Pei, Heather Storteboom, and Kenneth H. Carlson
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
Received for review February 20, 2006
Revised manuscript received July 10, 2006
Accepted July 17, 2006
Abstract:
This study explores antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) as emerging environmental contaminants. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the occurrence of ARGs in various environmental compartments in northern Colorado, including
Cache La Poudre (Poudre) River sediments, irrigation ditches, dairy lagoons, and the effluents of wastewater recycling
and drinking water treatment plants. Additionally, ARG concentrations in the Poudre River sediments were analyzed at
three time points at five sites with varying levels of urban/agricultural impact and compared with two previously published
time points. It was expected that ARG concentrations would be significantly higher in environments directly impacted by
urban/agricultural activity than in pristine and lesser-impacted environments. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection
assays were applied to detect the presence/absence of several tetracycline and sulfonamide ARGs. Quantitative real-
time PCR was used to further quantify two tetracycline ARGs (tet(W) and tet(O)) and two sulfonamide ARGs (sul(I) and
sul(II)). The following trend was observed with respect to ARG concentrations (normalized to eubacterial 16S rRNA
genes): dairy lagoon water > irrigation ditch water > urban/agriculturally impacted river sediments (p < 0.0001), except
for sul(II), which was absent in ditch water. It was noted that tet(W) and tet(O) were also present in treated drinking water
and recycled wastewater, suggesting that these are potential pathways for the spread of ARGs to and from humans. On
the basis of this study, there is a need for environmental scientists and engineers to help address the issue of the
spread of ARGs in the environment.
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Subject: Failure of standards used in Certified Organic Produce--a serious health issue
Date: 12/13/2006 6:58:26 AM Central Standard Time
From: edo_mcgowan@hotmail.com
To: