| dc.description.abstract | The significant increases in abundance of pharmaceuticals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB),
and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment have drawn attention over public
health. The presence of these contaminants in wastewaters is well-documented as a factor
contributing to the decreased potency of antibiotics used in healthcare. These types of
contaminants can be removed from wastewater using a number of techniques, including
phytoremediation, which has demonstrated effectiveness. The removal of these contaminants
by various aquatic plants has been explored, and the results are promising. The aim of this
research was first, to analyze antibiotic resistance patterns of bacteria isolated from hospital
wastewater effluent, which is a consequence of antibiotics occurrence in wastewater. Second,
to investigate the removal of some selected antibiotics from synthetic wastewater in
constructed wetland (CW) planted with Cyperus alternifolius, Canna indica, and one planted
with both of these plant species, as well as the influence of antibiotics on microbial density and
community in CW. Hospital wastewater samples were collected from the Benjamin Mkapa
Hospital in Dodoma, Tanzania, where the hospital's wastewater is treated in a horizontal
subsurface flow CW planted with Typha latifolia before being discharged into the environment.
The results of hospital wastewater analysis showed that bacteria isolated from treated hospital
wastewater were resistant to tested antibiotics and harbored antibiotics resistance genes. These
findings demonstrate that CW can disseminate ARB and ARGs despite hospital wastewater
treatment, which poses a risk to the public's health. In the pilot CW, the system planted with a
single plant species (Cyperus alternifolius) outperformed those planted with mixed plant
species or Canna indica alone in the removal of tested antibiotics from wastewater. This
is supported by the observation of higher bacteria abundance in CW with Cyperus altenifolius
than Canna indica, while the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). The findings of this
investigation revealed that although there is a general decline in bacteria abundance, there is
no significant change (p > 0.05) due to antibiotic presence in wastewater. It is concluded that,
despite variations in performance, the plants studied play a significant role in pharmaceuticals
remediation from wastewater | en_US |
