The OUTBIOTICS project confirms the presence of antibiotics in Spanish and French rivers

The OUTBIOTICS project has confirmed the presence of antibiotics in the rivers of the border area of Spain and France (POCTEFA territory), especially chronic enrofloxacin and sulfadiazine. Specifically, higher concentrations of antibiotics have been detected in rural areas of the Ebro basin, in middle or lower reaches of the rivers, where the intensive livestock and agricultural activity as an economic engine.

 

These are some of the conclusions that were presented today during the closing session of the European project OUTBIOTICS, Innovative technologies for diagnosis, prevention and elimination of emerging contaminants (antibiotics) from the waters of the POCTEFA territory, at the Faculty of Education of the University of Zaragoza. Through a cross-border collaboration consortium, composed of 6 partners and led by the University of Zaragoza, it has been possible to study during the last four years the waters of Spanish and French rivers with the aim of detecting and quantifying the presence of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance, as well as the possibilities for preventing their use and eliminating them.

 

 

Studying detection and quantification of antibiotics and resistant bacteria in the area of ​​influence of livestock farms It has been carried out by the University of Zaragoza, the University of Navarra, the Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les matériaux (IPREM-CNRS) and the company Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales SA

 

For this study, samples from the left bank of the Ebro and Cantabrian hydrographic basin in Spain, as well as the Adour-Garonne, in France.

 

The results obtained after the analysis of samples carried out by the IPREM-CNRS have allowed us to conclude that There is a higher concentration of antibiotics in the Spanish rivers studied, compared to the French ones, as well as the finding of higher concentrations of antibiotics in rural areas of the Ebro basin, in middle or lower reaches of the rivers, where intensive livestock and agricultural activity predominates as an economic engine, especially in the waters close to intensive pig and poultry farms in the sub-basin of the Segre, Gállego and Cinca.

 

Regarding wastewater from large population centers, the usual presence of azithromycin, enrofloxacin and trimethoprim has been detected in the inlet collectors of the sampled treatment plants.

 

Furthermore, the results suggest that the treatment plants are able to reduce antibiotic load that is emitted into the environment, although they are not designed for that purpose.

 

El Department of Microbiology and Parasitology of the University of Navarra has studied the presence of high and critical priority pathogens included in the list of "priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens" of the WHO.   resistant bacteria The families of antibiotics considered are present in 96% of the rivers and 100% of the wastewater treatment plants and collectors of hospitals and slaughterhouses studied; 96% of the bacteria found were multi-resistant, with penicillin resistance being the most prevalent.

 

The Universities of Zaragoza, Navarra and Lleida have evaluated a nanomaterial based on kaolin and silver nanoparticles, developed by the company Laboratorios Enosán SL, to be used as food additive in feed, in order to reduce the incidence of infectious diseases and the consequent use of antibiotics in livestock.

 

The nanomaterial has been characterized by the University of ZaragozaWhile the University of Navarra has been in charge of studying its antimicrobial activity and biosafety. It has been proven that the nanomaterial has antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria, as well as against antibiotic-resistant strains, and does not present genotoxicity.

 

As regards the experimental evaluation of the use of nanomaterial in livestock farms, Departments of Animal Production of the University of Lleida and Zaragoza have carried out different studies, both in experimental and commercial farms, with the aim of evaluate and validate its use as a food additive in pigs and chickens. It has been proven that the incorporation of nanomaterial in feed has contributed to improve production efficiency, reducing mortality y without producing toxic effects in animals. No accumulation of silver has been detected in the muscle tissue of the animals, indicating a low risk to human health derived from its consumption.

 

Finally, the Department of Plant Production and Forest Science of the University of Lleida has carried out the evaluation of the environmental and microbiological impact of slurry from pigs fed with feed supplemented with the silver-based nanomaterial. The use of this slurry as an organic amendment in experimental corn crops has not produced significant effects neither in the soil nor in agricultural production. The microbiome of the soil has not been affected, as well as the natural levels of silver in the soil, so the environmental impact es minimum.

 

 

The University of Zaragoza, Along the IPREM-CNRS and the company Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales SA, has carried out a technical-economic study of three technologies for the elimination of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants at laboratory scale and semi-industrial pilot scale.

 

La oxidation with potassium ferrate It has turned out to be effective for the elimination of the antibiotics selected in the project, although it is not viable due to its poor stability and price. The adsorption with activated carbon powder It is capable of eliminating antibiotics, although the reuse of active carbon requires its regeneration. Finally, the photocatalysis with titanium dioxide allows the degradation of antibiotics and the reuse of the catalyst.

 

In addition, a pilot plant has been designed and built that, by combining these last two technologies, manages to improve the antibiotic elimination results obtained separately.

 

OUTBIOTICS has been developed since 2018, with the objective of eliminating or reducing antibiotics in the waters of the POCTEFA territory through the development of innovative technologies based on inert nano-micro materials, both for the prevention of its emission and for its elimination in waters.

This project has been coordinated by the recently deceased Professor Juan Ramon Castillo and, later, by Professor Francisco Laborda. It has been developed through a consortium of six partners: the University of Zaragoza, through the Analytical Spectroscopy and Sensors Group, the Water and Environmental Health Group, and the Department of Animal Production and Food Science); the University of Navarra, through its departments of Microbiology and Parasitology, and Pharmacology and Toxicology; the University of Lleida, through the Environmental Physicochemistry Group and the Departments of Animal Production and Plant Production and Forest Science; the Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les matériaux (IPREM-CNRS), and the companies Laboratorios Enosán SL and Navarra de Infraestructuras Locales SA (NILSA).

 

OUTBIOTICS has been co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg VA Spain-France-Andorra Program (POCTEFA 2014-2020). The objective of POCTEFA is to strengthen the economic and social integration of the Spain-France-Andorra border area. Its aid focuses on the development of cross-border economic, social and environmental activities through joint strategies in favor of sustainable territorial development.