Environmental Risks of Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Elements: Occurrence, Fate, and Assessment

Antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have emerged as critical environmental contaminants posing serious ecological and public health concerns. The widespread occurrence and proliferation of ARB and ARGs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and reclaimed wastewater (RWW) used for irrigation represent major pathways for their dissemination into the environment. Current knowledge indicates that ARGs from the environmental resistome can be transferred among diverse microbial communities, including clinically relevant human pathogens. Numerous studies have also linked the expansion of the environmental resistome to anthropogenic activities. Therefore, preventing and mitigating the spread of antibiotic resistance in the environment requires a deeper understanding of how resistance genes evolve, transfer, and persist across ecological compartments. This review synthesizes the current state of knowledge on the occurrence, prevalence, and detection of antibiotics, ARB, and ARGs in various environmental matrices, providing essential insights for developing preventive strategies and promoting the sustainable management of ecosystems.