Abstrakt

Artificial snowing is a process that allows ski operators adapt to snow scarcity due to climate change while raising environmental and public health concerns about the role it plays in environmental dissemination of pollutants, but studies addressing this question are still scarce. This study aimed to fill this gap in understanding the role of artificial snowmaking in dissemination of antibiotics, bacterial contaminants, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and genetic determinants (ARGs) thereof. Technical snow and water used for its production were examined from 11 ski stations located in four river catchments, varying in anthropopressure and the presence/absence of storage reservoirs where water is collected before snowmaking. Culturable E. coli were found in all water intakes with clear reduction/elimination during snowmaking. Fourteen antimicrobial agents were detected using UHPLC/MS/MS. Concentration and prevalence of antimicrobials differed between the catchments; the sites located downstream of long-term stay health centers were most severely contaminated. Two antibiotics of restricted use (vancomycin and linezolid) were detected downstream of hospitals. Antimicrobial resistance of 158 E. coli strains was tested using disk diffusion method. The resistance to penicillins (e.g. ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid) was most frequent and in general followed the pattern of antibiotic consumption rather than antibiotic concentration in water. Extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) genes were detected using PCR tests: 66.46 % (105 out of 158) strains possessed at least one ARG among which blaTEM was most frequent, followed by blaCTX-M and blaSHV. Our study indicates that the major sources of aquatic environment and technical snow contamination with antimicrobial agents are effluents from long-term stay medical centers, while bacterial contamination (including ARB and ARGs) stems from municipal WWTPs, i.e. the main hubs of antimicrobial resistance transfer to the environment. The storage reservoir construction may aid in reducing the transfer rate of pollutants and micropollutants from contaminated water to technical snow.