Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Antibiotic-Resistant E. coli, Legionella pneumophila, and Mycobacteria in Nonpotable Wastewater Reuse Applications

Abstract

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) have become a major threat to public health and modern medicine. A simple death kinetics-based dose−response model (SD-DRM) was incorporated into a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) to assess the risks of exposure to reclaimed wastewater harboring antibiotic-resistant E. coli, Legionella pneumophila, and Mycobacterium avium for multiple exposure scenarios. The fractions of ARB and trace antibiotics present in the body were incorporated to demonstrate their impact on infection risks. Both ARB and antibiotic susceptible bacteria, ASB, are assumed to have the same dose−response in the absence of antibiotics but behave differently in the presence of residual antibiotics in the body. Annual risk of L. pneumophila infection exceeded the EPA 10 −4 pppy (per person per year) benchmark at concentrations in reclaimed water greater than 10 3 −10 4 CFU/L, depending on parameter variation. Enteropathogenic E. coli infection risks meet the EPA annual benchmark at concentrations around 10 5 −10 6 total E. coli. The results illustrated that an increase in residual antibiotics from 0 to 40% of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) reduced the risk by about 1 order of magnitude for E. coli but was more likely to result in an untreatable infection.