About this Research Topic
Antibiotics have been used for controlling infectious diseases in humans and animals for decades. Antibiotics are life-saving drugs, but their release to the water environment creates the potential to select for antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and to stimulate the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Water environments are of special interest because they can be influenced both by inputs of antibiotics, ARBs, and ARG and serve as a conduit to human exposure. However, we still do not have enough information or established approaches for evaluating the risks of ARB and ARGs to humans. This topic welcomes manuscripts focused on ARB and ARGs in wastewater systems (including influent, activated sludge, anaerobic digestion sludge, and effluent), rivers, lakes, groundwater, drinking water, reclaimed water, aquaculture, and ocean environments, the mechanisms by which they spread, and frameworks for developing appropriate risk assessment. To gather cutting-edge findings in aquatic environments we encourage you to submit original works, reviews and topics to this Frontiers Topic.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
