Metal-containing landfills as a source of antibiotic tolerance.

To unveil the potential effect of metal presence to antibiotic tolerance proliferation, four sites of surface landfills containing tailings from metal processing in Slovakia (Hnústa, Hodrusa, Kosice) and Poland (Tarnowskie Góry) were investigated. Tolerance and multitolerance to selected metals (Cu, Ni, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cd) and antibiotics (ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and kanamycin) and interrelationships between them were evaluated. A low bacterial diversity (Shannon-Wiener index from 0.83 to 2.263) was detected in all sampling sites. Gram-positive bacteria, mostly belonging to the phylum Actinobacteria, dominated in three of the four sampling sites. The recorded percentages of tolerant bacterial isolates varied considerably for antibiotics and metals from 0 to 57% and 0.8 to 47%, respectively, among the sampling sites. Tolerances to chloramphenicol (45-57%) and kanamycin (32-45%) were found in three sites. Multitolerance to several metals and antibiotics in the range of 24 to 48% was recorded for three sites. A significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) for the co-occurrence of tolerance to each studied metal and at least one of the antibiotics was observed. Exposure time to the metal (landfill duration) was an important factor for the development of metal- as well as antibiotic-tolerant isolates. The results show that metal-contaminated sites represent a significant threat for human health not only for their toxic effects but also for their pressure to antibiotic tolerance spread in the environment.

Research of waste dump water mutagenicity of bacterial detection system SOS chromotest.

The paper deals with a possible use of the bacterial detection system of SOS chromotest to test mutagenicity of waste dump water checking the mutagenicity degree on real samples from Praksice waste dump, which is a controlled waste dump with mixed industrial, municipal and inert wastes. The waste dump surface water samples were taken from a no-name influent stream springing below the waste dump body between 2005 and 2009. After metabolic activation by microsomal fraction in vitro, medium to high mutagenicity was registered in all the samples. The SOS chromotest is assessed as an effective and economically acceptable method to check and determine the mutagenicity degree of contaminated water.