TITLE:
Is Not It Time to Stop Using Chlorine for Treating Water?
AUTHORS:
Djamel Ghernaout, Noureddine Elboughdiri
KEYWORDS:
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (ARB), Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs), Wastewater Treatment, Disinfection, Oxidation, Escherichia coli
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.7 No.1,
January
10,
2020
ABSTRACT: Chlorine is largely used as a disinfectant in the water and wastewater treatment industries through the world despite the fact that is greatly poisonous for hu-man beings. Its toxicity is more extended to generating disinfection by-products during its microorganisms’ killing and action on organic matter present in water. More importantly, recent studies proved the potential impacts of disinfection on transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), particularly for free-living ARGs in final disinfected effluent of urban wastewater treatment plants. Indeed, Escherichia coli concentration prior to chlorination depicted a powerful positive correlation with the extracellular ARGs plenty in the final effluents; however, lower temperature and higher ammonium concentration were suggested to relate with intracellular ARGs. Chlorination could elevate the plenty of ARGs, therefore, inducing danger of the diffusion of antibiotic resistance in nature. Consequently, chlorine toxicity is more and more proved, which appeals its urgent stopping from using it in the treatment of both water and wastewater. The same conclusion was also obtained at least for UV and UV/H2O2 disinfection. Chemical disinfection should be urgently avoided or at least deeply revised. For removing pathogens and treating water, safe multi-barrier methods, such as distillation and membrane processes, have to be adopted.