Climate Change and the European Water Dimension - Agri ...

more than 50 % of the samples showed no effect from the treatment with Ampicillin,
Erythromycin and Gentamycin. Interestingly, the isolates from the river water itself
revealed a much lower resistance. This indicates that the river was not the source of
contamination. Obviously the pathogens were initially released from terrestrial
sources such as sewage treatment plants or farms and entered the river
subsequently.
VI.F.3 Conclusion
Concerning chemical pollution, the 2002 flooding event did not result in a large-scale
contamination of the areas affected by the floodwaters. The relatively high
contamination levels found in the floodplains represent the historic dimension of
repeated flood events in industrial regions. However, flooding in other European
river basins may yield a different result.
In contrast to chemical pollution, the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in
flooded urban areas revealed a significant effect attributable to the flood event. In
addition, resistance of many of these pathogens against antibiotics was observed,
which potentially multiplies the related human health risk. The observed resistance is
most probably due to the adaptation of pathogens present in wastewater treatment
plants and agricultural applications where various anti-microbial pharmaceuticals are
present.
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