In the 1970's UNICEF initiated the boring of deep wells in villages across the Ganges Delta in a ... [+]
In a new study conducted in rural Bangladesh, researchers found that areas with high levels of groundwater arsenic contamination that children drink regularly have a greater prevalence of antibiotic resistance compared to areas with lower contamination levels.
Published in the journal PLOS Pathogens on December 8, lead author Mohammad Aminul Islam of Washington State University, and colleagues wrote:
“The positive association detected between arsenic exposure and antibiotic resistance carriage among children in arsenic-affected areas in Bangladesh is an important public health concern that warrants redoubling efforts to reduce arsenic exposure.”
The most common cause of antibiotic resistance is the misuse and abuse of antibiotics among human beings and also in the agriculture and animal husbandry industries. According to a Lancet study, around 1.27 million deaths in 2019 were a direct result of antimicrobial resistance — making the death toll far higher than HIV/AIDS and malaria. Over the years, researchers have hypothesized that heavy metals like arsenic could also contribute to developing antibiotic resistance.
To further investigate, Islam and the team collected water and stool samples from mothers and children residing in 100 households in two subdistricts in Bangladesh. In the Hajiganj subdistrict, families drink water from shallow tube wells that are known to have higher levels of arsenic contamination compared to deep tube wells that are arsenic-free in the other subdistrict called Matlab.
The water samples from Hajiganj had an arsenic contamination level of 481 μg/L. Whereas Matlab’s water samples were arsenic-free. Put together, 84% of the 100 water and stool samples tested positive for E.coli bacteria. The prevalence of E.coli antibiotic resistance among mothers was 48% in Hajiganj and only 22% in Matlab. In children, the prevalence was far higher at 94% in Hajiganj and 76% in Matlab. The E.coli from Hajiganj were resistant to penicillin, cephalosporin, and chloramphenicol.
In some parts of eastern India and Bangladesh, Mexico, the U.S., Chile, Argentina, and China. Arsenic is a naturally occurring heavy metal within the Earth’s crust and groundwater contamination usually takes place at the surface level.
In a press release, Islam said, “Heavy metals such as arsenic are more stable than antibiotics in the environment, and they continue to exert selective pressure on bacteria over a more extended period driving the evolution and expansion of antimicrobial resistance in the community. The extent to which this phenomenon drives the observed higher rates of antimicrobial resistance, as opposed to other confounders, would benefit from further study; nevertheless, it is critical to contain this environmental driver of antimicrobial resistance along with responsible antimicrobial usage in medicine and agriculture.”
Long-term exposure to arsenic contamination can also cause skin lesions, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and potentially cancer, according to the World Health Organization. Children exposed to arsenic and in-utero fetuses are particularly vulnerable to impaired cognitive development that might last permanently. Other than groundwater contamination, people can also be exposed to arsenic by consuming seafood, poultry, meat, and dairy products. However, the likelihood of arsenic exposure through food is far lower than in contaminated water.
