Investigation of antibiotic contamination and bacterial resistance profile in lakes of the Bucharest area, Romania

This study presents investigations regarding the identification of emerging pharmaceutical contaminants by SPEonline-UHPLC-MS/MS analysis, in 17 lakes from the metropolitan area of Bucharest, as well as the antibiotic resistance profiles of potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated from these aquatic environments. The results revealed frequent contamination with antibiotics, including clindamycin, tinidazole, trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin, along with a high level of resistance among E. coli strains to antibiotics such as ampicillin (43%) and penicillin (43%) from the penicillin group, cefazolin (43%) from the cephalosporin group, and amoxicillin (30%) from the β-lactam group. These strains can transfer their resistance to other genera and species, potentially leading to the emergence of new resistance mechanisms in aquatic environments.