Perilous Plastics Result In Antibiotic Resistance

Dr. Lei Wang and his colleagues at Nankai University in Tianjin China undertook to investigate dust samples, collected from groups of designated apartment properties, utilizing “sterilized brooms” to collect these dust samples. The samples were lab-analyzed for microplastics , bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes. The most common microplastics collected were from polyester and nylon.

One unanticipated result was that locations where dust was rich in microplastics had bacterial communities that were different from dust collected from locations that exhibited much lower concentrations of these same microplastics. More critical was the result that more abundant quantities, bore a direct relationship to the higher incidence of antibiotic-resistant genes.

Why these microplastics, in higher concentrations are more likely to carry antibiotic-resistant genes is unclear. However, it seems apparent that certain types of bacteria can eke out an existence on microplastics which are “dust-rich,” and these same microplastics are more likely to develop bacteria that are prone to create antimicrobial-resistant properties.

The obvious question is whether the abundance of microplastics, in particularly high concentrations, could shelter bacteria such that they might form bacterial biofilms that in turn, evolve into resistant bacteria strains, some of which are harmful to animals and humans ?

Prepared By Gary Hodgins