Search

Discarded face masks from the global COVID-19 pandemic have contributed significantly to plastic pollution in surface water, whereas their potential as a reservoir for aquatic pollutants is not well understood. Herein, we conducted a field experiment along a human-impacted urban river, investigating the variations of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), pathogens, and water-borne contaminants in commonly-used face masks. Results showed that high-biomass biofilms formed on face masks selectively enriched more ARGs than stone biofilm (0.08–0.22 vs 0.07–0.15 copies/16 S rRNA gene copies) from bulk water, which mainly due to unique microbial communities, enhanced horizontal gene transfer, and selective pressure of accumulated contaminants based on redundancy analysis and variation partitioning analysis. Several human opportunistic pathogens (e.g., Acinetobacter , Escherichia - Shigella , Bacillus , and Klebsiella), which are considered potential ARG carriers, were also greatly concentrated in face-mask biofilms, imposing a potential threat to aquatic ecological environment and human health. Moreover, wastewater treatment plant effluents, as an important source of pollutants to urban rivers, further aggravated the abundances of ARGs and opportunistic pathogens in face-mask biofilms. Our findings demonstrated that discarded face masks provide a hotspot for the proliferation and spread of ARGs and pathogens in urban water, highlighting the urgent requirement for implementing stricter regulations in face mask disposal. [Display omitted] • High-biomass biofilms were formed on discarded face masks in urban river. • Distinctive microbial community structure was detected in face-mask biofilm. • Face-mask biofilm simultaneously enriched ARGs and opportunistic pathogens. • Multiple drivers for enhanced antibiotic resistomes in face-mask biofilm were proposed. • WWTP effluents exacerbated the accumulation of pollutants in face-mask biofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Discarded face mask was a vital source of micro(nano)plastics and organic chemicals. • Face mask earloops released more pollutants than their filtering layers at same mass. • Toxicogenomics-based assay was used to evaluate the genotoxicity of emitted pollutants. • Membrane and DNA stress were primary responses upon exposure to emitted pollutants. Micro(nano)plastics widely detected in aquatic environments have caused serious threat to water quality security. However, as a potential important source of micro(nano)plastics in surface water during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ecological risks of face mask waste to aquatic environments remain poorly understood. Herein, we comprehensively characterized the micro(nano)plastics and organic compounds released from four daily used face masks in aqueous environments and further evaluated their potential impacts on aquatic ecosystem safety by quantitative genotoxicity assay. Results from spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrum showed that plastic microfibers/particles (∼11%-83%) and leachable organic compounds (∼15%-87%) were dominantly emitted pollutants, which were significantly higher than nanoplastics (< ∼5%) based on mass of carbon. Additionally, a toxicogenomics approach using green fluorescence protein-fused whole-cell array revealed that membrane stress was the primary response upon the exposure to micro(nano)plastics, whereas the emitted organic chemicals were mainly responsible for DNA damage involving most of the DNA repair pathways (e.g., base/nucleotide excision repair, mismatch repair, double-strand break repair), implying their severe threat to membrane structure and DNA replication of microorganisms. Therefore, the persistent release of discarded face masks derived pollutants might exacerbate water quality and even adversely affect aquatic microbial functions. These findings would contribute to unraveling the potential effects of face mask waste on aquatic ecosystem security and highlight the necessity for more developed management regulations in face mask disposal. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]