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Review
. 2024 Aug 15:260:121952.
doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121952. Epub 2024 Jun 16.

Do storm overflows influence AMR in the environment and is this relevant to human health? A UK perspective on a global issue

Holly J Tipper  1 , Isobel C Stanton  2 , Rachel A Payne  2 , Daniel S Read  2 , Andrew C Singer  2
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Do storm overflows influence AMR in the environment and is this relevant to human health? A UK perspective on a global issue

Holly J Tipper et al. Water Res. .
Free article

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat, and the environment has been identified as an important reservoir for resistant microorganisms and genes. Storm overflows (SOs) discharge wastewater and stormwater, and are found throughout many wastewater networks. While there are no data currently showing the impact of SOs on the environment with respect to AMR in the UK, there is a small but growing body of evidence globally highlighting the potential role of SOs on environmental AMR. This review aims to provide an overview of the current state of SOs, describe global data investigating the impact of SOs on environmental AMR, and discuss the implications of SOs regarding AMR and human health. In addition, the complexities of studying the effects of SOs are discussed and a set of priority research questions and policy interventions to tackle a potentially emerging threat to public health are presented.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR); Combined sewer overflows (CSOS); One Health; Wastewater; Water quality.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Daniel S. Read reports financial support was provided by Natural Environment Research Council. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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