The dangerous transporters: A study of microplastic-associated bacteria passing through municipal wastewater treatment Kruglova, Antonina Muñoz Palazón, Barbara González Martínez, Alejandro Microplastics Microplastic biofilms Plastisphere Wastewater treatment Activated sludge Wastewater-derived pathogens Microplastics (MPs) provide a stable and protective habitat for diverse wastewater bacteria, including pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant species. Therefore, MPs may potentially transport these bacteria through wastewater treatment steps to the environment and far distances. This study investigated bacterial communities of MPassociated bacteria from different stages of municipal wastewater treatment processes to evaluate the potential negative effect of these biofilms on the environment. The results showed a high diversity of bacteria that were strongly attached to MPs. After all treatment steps, the core bacterial groups remained attached to MPs and escaped from the wastewater treatment plant with effluent water. Several pathogenic bacteria were identified in MP samples from all treatment steps, and most of them were found in effluent water. These data provide new insights into the possible impacts of wastewater-derived MPs on the environment. MP-associated biofilms were proved to be important sources of pathogens and antibiotic-resistant genes in natural waters. 2022-11-08T12:52:59Z 2022-11-08T12:52:59Z 2022-09-30 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Antonina Kruglova... [et al.]. The dangerous transporters: A study of microplastic-associated bacteria passing through municipal wastewater treatment, Environmental Pollution, Volume 314, 2022, 120316, ISSN 0269-7491, [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120316] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/77828 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.120316 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 4.0 Internacional Elsevier