Discarded masks as hotspots of antibiotic resistance genes during COVID-19 pandemic.
J Hazard Mater
; 425: 127774, 2022 03 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1517334
ABSTRACT
The demand for facial masks remains high. However, little is known about discarded masks as a potential refuge for contaminants and to facilitate enrichment and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) in the environment. We address this issue by conducting an in-situ time-series experiment to investigate the dynamic changes of ARGs, bacteria and protozoa associated with discarded masks. Masks were incubated in an estuary for 30 days. The relative abundance of ARGs in masks increased after day 7 but levelled off after 14 days. The absolute abundance of ARGs at 30 days was 1.29 × 1012 and 1.07 × 1012 copies for carbon and surgical masks, respectively. According to normalized stochasticity ratio analysis, the assembly of bacterial and protistan communities was determined by stochastic (NST = 62%) and deterministic (NST = 40%) processes respectively. A network analysis highlighted potential interactions between bacteria and protozoa, which was further confirmed by culture-dependent assays, that showed masks shelter and enrich microbial communities. An antibiotic susceptibility test suggested that antibiotic resistant pathogens co-exist within protozoa. This study provides an insight into the spread of ARGs through discarded masks and highlights the importance of managing discarded masks with the potential ecological risk of mask contamination.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Hazard Mater
Journal subject:
Environmental Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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