References Literature & Language Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography
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Annotated Bibliography
Backhaus, T., & Grimme, L. H. (1999). The toxicity of antibiotic agents to the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri. Chemosphere, 38(14), 3291-3301.
The authors, a professor of Ecotoxicology in the University of Gothenburg and a researcher at the University of Bremen, then working at the University of Bremen in a project sponsored by the German Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology assess the toxicity of several groups of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics towards Vibrio fischeri. The article acknowledges that the effects of antibiotics exposure in the environment are mostly unknown. The authors observe that antibiotics environment through various ways thus resulting in the contamination of water, where bacteria in that environment are likely to be affected. The article presents the toxicity of several drugs, reflecting the most important groups of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics, towards Vibrio fischeri.
The authors used the chronic bioluminescence assay with Vibrio fischeri without any modifications as instructed by the manufacturer. The study finds that the long term bioluminescence inhibition assay with Vibrio fischeri is sensitive to antibiotics interfering with protein biosynthesis and RNA/DNA associated processes. The article concludes that this bioassay may be a valuable tool for an effects assessment and biomonitoring of these compounds since many of the high volume antibiotics used in human medicine and for veterinary purposes belong to this group. The article shed light on the high environmental risk considering the high production volumes and the widespread use of antibiotics.
Ding, C., & He, J. (2010). Effect of antibiotics in the environment on microbial populations. Applied microbiology and biotechnology, 87(3), 925-941.
The authors, researchers at the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering in the National University of Singapore, discuss the factors that influence antibiotic effects on microbial communities in soil and aquatic environment, including the concentration of antibiotics, exposure time, added substrates, as well as combined effects of multiple antibiotics. The study also explores various factors that influence antibiotic effects such as their actual concentrations, extended exposure time, the addition of substrate and presence of numerous antibiotics simultaneously. The authors emphasize the effects of antibiotics on microbial communities with such effects as phylogenetic structure alteration, resistance expansion, and ecological function disturbance in the micro-ecosystem. The article recommends further investigations to provide a comprehensive risk assessment on the consequence of anthropogenic antibiotic input.
Economides, C., Liapi, M., & Makris, K. C. (2012). Antibiotic resistance patterns of Salmonella and Escherichia coli in the groundwater of Cyprus. Environmental geochemistry and health, 34(4), 391-397.
The authors, veterinary services researchers in the Cyprus Ministry of Agriculture and a researcher from the Cyprus University of Technology, evaluate the magnitude and variability of Salmonella and Escherichia coli antibiotic resistance patterns in groundwater samples collected on-site at various confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) around the island of Cyprus. Their research hypothesized that historical use of veterinary antibiotics in Cyprus has resulted in increased antibiotic resistance for E. coli and Salmonella species in groundwater located near CAFOs within the island. The study involved isolating strains from the groundwater samples collected from wells drilled on CAFOs’ property from all five major districts of Cyprus.
Nearly half of the 27 isolated Salmonella strains were found to be resistant to at least one or more antibiotic. The article identified sulphamethoxazole to exhibit the highest resistance of 85 percent, followed by streptomycin at 39 percent and tetracycline at 31 percent. Nearly a third of the Escherichia coli isolated strains were resistant to at least one antibiotic. The resistance of Escherichia coli was equal among sulphamethoxazole, tetracycline, and streptomycin at 20 percent. The researchers found considerable risk to human health through oral consumption of groundwater contaminated with Escherichia coli and Salmonella. The study recommends better management practices to be developed for water supplies relying on groundwater especially in rural areas to minimize exposure to the antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
Jones, O. A. H., Voulvoulis, N., & Lester, J. N. (2004). Potential ecological and human health risks associated with the presence of pharmaceutically active compounds in the aquatic environment. Critical reviews in toxicology, 34(4), 335-350.
The authors, a professor of Analytical Chemistry at RMIT University and researchers in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology from Imperial College, examines laboratory-based acute and chronic toxicity data and studies concerned with the effects of pharmaceuticals on a variety of different organisms. Further, the article reviews the reported environmental concentrations of pharmaceuticals in aquatic systems. The researchers observed that there is a growing concern regarding the spread of drug-resistant pathogens as a result of pharmaceuticals in the environment. The article further highlights the potential sources and pathways of the pharmaceutical compounds that enter the environment.
Critical sources covered include human sources such as excretion of human pharmaceutical compounds after use, the incorrect disposal of unused drugs, as well as waste and spills during production. The article also explores veterinary sources such as veterinary medicines for livestock that find contaminate the environment through e direct dropping, disposal of, and application of solid and aqueous raw or treated animal manure as fertilizer and compounds used in aquaculture. The authors conclude that there is no evidence that most pharmaceuticals pose a human health risk and that it is unlikely that the pharmaceutical compounds present in the environment at their current concentrations are high enough to cause significant harm. The study recommends further research to determine and identify potential exposures and risks to human health.
Ju, F., Li, B., Ma, L., Wang, Y., Huang, D., & Zhang, T. (2016). Antibiotic resistance genes and human bacterial pathogens: co-occurrence, removal, and enrichment in municipal sewage sludge digesters. Water Research, 91, 1-10.
The authors, researchers from The University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University, explore the occurrence and removal or enrichment of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and human bacterial pathogens (HBPs) in three full-scale ...