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Decker, JeremieAuthorSalas, Clara OrtegonAuthorGonzalez, Isabel Del CastilloAuthorLehmann, Aurelio HernandezAuthorGiannakis, StefanosCorresponding Author

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April 12, 2025
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Solar-assisted Advanced oxidation processes affect the antibiotic resistance traits of bacteria developed in wastewater-irrigated soils: Are they a friend, a foe, or just a traitor in our midst?

Publicated to: Chemical Engineering Journal. 510 161768- - 2025-04-15 510(), DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2025.161768

Authors:

Yagoubi, A; Decker, J; Salas, CO; González, ID; Lehmann, AH; Chouari, R; Giannakis, S
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Affiliations

Univ Carthage, Fac Sci Bizerte, Lab Plant Toxicol & Environm Microbiol LR18ES38, Bizerte 7021, Tunisia - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid UPM, Ctr I D i Infraestruct Civiles Inteligentes & Sost, ETSI Caminos Canales & Puertos Edificio Retiro, C Alfonso XII 3, ES-28014 Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid UPM, Dept Ingn Civil Hidraul Energia & Medio Ambiente, Environm Coast & Ocean Res Lab ECOREL UPM, ETSI Caminos Canales & Puertos Edificio Ciudad Uni, C Prof Aranguren 3, ES-28040 Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid UPM, Dept Ingn Quim Ind & Medio Ambiente, ETS Ingn Ind, C Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, Madrid 28006, Spain - Author
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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of solar-assisted Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) on the antibiotic resistance traits of bacteria developed in wastewater-irrigated soils. Bacteria were extracted from three soil sites with varied temporal exposure to treated wastewater (TWW): non-irrigated soil (S1), soil irrigated for 5 years (S2), and soil irrigated for 25 years (S3). The efficacy of solar light alone (hv), hv/Fe2+/H2O2, hv/Fe2+/PMS, and hv/Fe2+/PDS processes in inactivating the bacterial consortia was examined. Disinfection efficacy and postdisinfection events, including bacterial regrowth, the role of antibiotics present in the matrix, and shifts in minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) over the three selected solar AOP cycles were assessed. These AOPs completely inactivated the bacteria, with hv/Fe2+/PMS being the most effective, followed by hv/Fe2+/H2O2 and hv/Fe2+/PDS, respectively. The presence of antibiotics during treatment enhanced disinfection, suggesting a reduction in resistance. However, post-treatment regrowth was observed, with solar/Fe/PMS being the most effective treatment at limiting regrowth. After three treatment cycles, the MICs of ampicillin, tetracycline, kanamycin, and streptomycin increased, indicating that surviving antibiotic-resistant bacteria retained their phenotype after multiple solar-AOP exposures and formed resistant subpopulations. TWW irrigation was responsible for the development of antibiotic resistance; however, bacteria developed antibiotic breakdown strategies, including bio-assimilation (antibiotrophy). While concerning from a safety perspective, this knowledge can facilitate the development of effective antibiotic biodegradation strategies. Finally, although our solar AOPs are essentially a friend, effective for disinfection, our findings indicate that tertiary/quaternary treatments may inadvertently contribute to shifts in bacterial community assemblies and the development of antibiotic resistance and new phenotypes in surviving populations, thus capable of treason, highlighting the need for comprehensive post-treatment safety assessments.
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Keywords

Advanced oxidation processesAntibiotic biodegradatioAntibiotic biodegradationAntibiotic resistanceAntibiotics resistanceBacterial regrowthDisinfectionFertilizersGenesIrrigated soilsMechanismsMinimum inhibitory concentrationMinimum inhibitory concentrationsPatternPhoto-fentonPost treatmentSoil pollutionSolar assistedTreated wastewaterTreatment plantsWastewater treatmentWastewater-irrigated soilWastewater-irrigated soils

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Chemical Engineering Journal due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 3/83, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Environmental. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-12-22:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 13.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 14 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 14.
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 2 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Tunisia.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Yagoubi, Amira) and Last Author (GIANNAKIS, STEFANOS).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been GIANNAKIS, STEFANOS.

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Awards linked to the item

This study was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunisia (LR18ES38) . Stefanos Giannakis and Jeremie Decker would like to acknowledge the ARPHILAKE project, "Combating Antibiotic Resistance in Philippine Lakes: One Health up-stream intervention to reduce the burden", which received funding from the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (Spain) , Proyectos de Colaboracion Internacional (PCI2022-132918) under the umbrella of the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance". Finally, we would like to express our gratitude and pay our respects to our late colleague, Prof. Dr. Aurelio Hernandez Lehmann. Aurelio was a man of commendable integrity and high professionalism, respected by everyone at the School of Civil Engineering. He showed great strength in the unfair battle against his illness, something none of us will ever forget. Que en paz descanses, Aurelio.
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