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The RISMEAU project (RISques liés aux résidus de Médicaments, biocides et antibiorésistance d'origine humaine et vétérinaire sur les ressources en EAU du bassin versant de l'Arve – Risks related to residues of pharmaceuticals and biocides, and antimicrobial resistance of human and veterinary origin on the water resources of the 2083 km2 Arve catchment located in the French Alps) was implanted from 2018 to 2024 on the SIPIBEL observatory. It was devoted to the evaluation of (i) transfers of and processes related to pharmaceutical residues and biocides from both urban sludge and manure spread on fields as fertilisers, and (ii) the environmental impacts of land spreading, in particular the ecotoxicological risks and antimicrobial resistance dissemination. The methodology was based on the physico-chemical, ecotoxicological and antimicrobial resistance (AMR – assessed by molecular biology) characterisation of leachate and soil matrices samples, and focused on organic waste products application at locally representative agronomic rates. This dataset can be reused by other researchers for comparison with their own investigations on this emerging topic under different contexts and conditions, and may contribute to international reviews.The database includes in total 26,217 values, measured on 348 samples of organic waste products, soil, in situ lysimeter leachate, earthworms, plants with 3136 usual physico-chemical values, 15,469 values on pharmaceuticals and biocides concentrations, 6827 bioassay values (ecotoxicity and phytotoxicity) and 785 values of antimicrobial resistance indicators. The 348 samples have been collected from Nov. 2019 to Dec. 2022: 4 samples in 2019, 26 in 2020, 130 in 2021 and 188 in 2022. Regarding AMR, 96 assays coding for most abundant resistance genes in healthy humans, clinically relevant antibiotic resistance genes, biocide resistance genes, heavy metal genes, integrons (class I, II and III), and mobile genetic elements (transposase genes) have been carried out.

Recycling organic wastes on agricultural soils improves the soil quality, but the environmental and health impact of these organic amendments closely depends on their origins, their bio-physicochemical characteristics and the considered organisms potentially affected. The aim of this study was to assess the potential chronic ecotoxicity of spreading organic amendments on agricultural soils. To do this, we characterized three different organic amendments: sewage sludge from an urban wastewater treatment plant, cow manure and liquid dairy manure. Their chronic ecotoxicity was studied through assays exposing earthworms of the species Eisenia fetida and two plants: Medicago sativa and Sinapis alba. Of the three amendments, the sewage sludge presented the highest concentrations of micropollutants and a considerable fraction of available and biodegradable organic matter. The cow manure and liquid dairy manure had lower chemical contamination and similar characteristics with lower biodegradable fractions of their organic matter. No chronic phytotoxicity was evidenced: on the contrary, particularly with sewage sludge, the germination rate and aerial and root biomass of the two plants increased. Considering earthworms, their biomass increased considerably during the reproduction assays in soil amended with sewage sludge, which contained the more bioavailable organic matter. Nonetheless, the earthworms presented an inhibition close to 78% of the production of juveniles when exposed to sewage sludge exceeding 20 g.kg-1 DW (that means 2 times the agronomic dose). This reprotoxic effect was also observed in the presence of liquid dairy manure, but not with cow manure. At the end of the assays, the glycogen and protein reserves in earthworms exposed to sewage sludge were inferior to that of control earthworms, respectively around 50% and 30%. For the earthworms exposed to liquid dairy manure, protein and lipid reserves increased. In the case of liquid dairy manure, this reprotoxic effect did not appear to be linked to the presence of micropollutants. In conclusion, our results confirm the need to use several ecotoxicity assays at different biological levels and with different biological models to assess the ecotoxic impacts of soil amendments. Indeed, although certain organic wastes present a strong nutritional potential for both plants and earthworms, a not inconsiderable risk was apparent for the reproduction of the latter. An integrated ecotoxicity criterion that takes into account a weighted sum of the different results would guide the utilization of organic amendments while ensuring the good health of agricultural ecosystems.

Abstract Background Antibiotic resistance is a major concern for public and environmental health. The role played by the environment in disseminating resistance is increasingly considered, as well as its capacity for mitigation. We reviewed the literature on strategies to control dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) and mobile genetic elements (MGE) in the environment. Methods This systematic review focused on three main strategies: (i) restriction of antibiotic use (S1), (ii) treatments of liquid/solid matrices (S2) and (iii) management of natural environment (S3). Articles were collected from seven scientific databases until July 2017 and from Web of Science until June 2018. Only studies reporting measurements of ARB, ARG or MGE in environmental samples were included. An evidence map was drawn from metadata extracted from all studies eligible for S1, S2 and S3. Subsets of studies were assessed for internal and external validity to perform narrative and quantitative syntheses. A meta-analysis was carried out to assess the effects of organic waste treatments (random-effect models). Review findings Nine hundred and thirty-one articles representing 1316 individual studies (n) were eligible for S1 (n = 59), S2 (n = 781) and S3 (n = 476) strategies, respectively. Effects of interventions to control the dissemination of antibiotic resistance in the environment were primarily studied in strategy S2. A partial efficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to reduce antibiotic resistance in treated effluent was reported in 118 high validity studies. In spite of the heterogeneity in published results, the meta-analysis showed that composting and drying were efficient treatments to reduce the relative abundance of ARG and MGE in organic waste, by 84% [65%; 93%] and 98% [80%; 100%], respectively. The effect of anaerobic digestion was not statistically significant (51% reduction [− 2%; 77%]) when organic waste treatments were compared together in the same model. Studies in strategies S1 and S3 mainly assessed the effects of exposure to sources of contamination. For instance, 28 medium/high validity studies showed an increase of antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments at the WWTP discharge point. Some of these studies also showed a decrease of resistance as the distance from the WWTP increases, related to a natural resilience capacity of aquatic environments. Concerning wildlife, nine medium/high validity studies showed that animals exposed to anthropogenic activities carried more ARB. Conclusions and implications Knowledge gaps were identified for the relationship between restriction of antibiotic use and variation of antibiotic resistance in the environment, as well as on possible interventions in situ in natural environment. Organic waste treatments with thermophilic phase (> 50 °C) should be implemented before the use/release of organic waste in the environment. More investigation should be conducted with the datasets available in this review to determine the treatment efficiency on ARG carried by specific bacterial communities.

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