July 2025

Nowadays, the Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) is a global challenge and the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that antibiotic pollution represents an environmental threat. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their effluents are essential antibiotic reservoirs and the use of wastewater (TWW) for irrigation could contribute to the antibiotics persistent pollutants in agroecosystems. Most antibiotics are excreted in stable states, which remain bioactive, thus ending up in TWW treatment systems increasing their concentration in agroecosystems posing significant risks to the soil ecosystem and plant quality. The long-term effects of vegetables contaminated with antibiotics (at trace concentrations) can affect human microbiota by inducing dysbiosis and increasing the rate of resistance. Among the isolated bacteria in wastewater effluents, resistant Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. are the most isolated species against the main antibiotics used in veterinary production and individual therapy. The gut microbiome can acquire resistance at sub-lethal concentration, which is a risk that requires attention, and antibiotic concentration in vegetables should not be underestimated. To limit the presence of antibiotics in water, regulations must be designed to manage the fate of organic substances in water and reduce the health effects associated with chronic exposure to sublethal contaminants such as antibiotics.