ANSWER

“Antibiotics and mobile resistance elements in wastewater reuse applications: risks and innovative solutions”

Funder(s): European Commission (H2020)

Grant Holder: Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus

Timescale: Oct 2015 – Sept 2019

The main objective of ANSWER/H2020-MSCA-ITN-2015/675530 is to develop well-trained and creative Early-Stage Researchers (15 ESRs) through innovative PhD projects to reveal the highly complex factors driving antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (A&ARB&ARGs) propagation in the framework of urban wastewater reuse.

ANSWER is developing knowledge and further understanding of the reuse practice, with the aim to reduce environmental and possible public health risks and identify opportunities for establishing safe reuse systems. ANSWER aims at answering critical questions related to wastewater reuse, and in particular to provide consolidated insight on the potential effects of the reuse practice with regard to antibiotic resistance. The pioneer leadership of Europe in the field of contaminants of emerging concern in the environment, will be sustained through ANSWER, whose benefits will be of scientific, technological, economical and of course societal character and significance. The European society has many to gain from ANSWER, including contributions towards clean environment and health protection.

ANSWER intends to result in a long-lasting network for future cooperation between the involved institutions, creating a training platform that will continue in the future, having a strong impact both on the scientific community and on the careers of the ESRs.

The network consists of 10 beneficiaries and 8 partners, from 9 countries (Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and the Netherlands). ANSWER is coordinated by Dr. D. Fatta-Kassinos (Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus) and is organized into 5 Technical Working Packages (WPs) with the following objectives:

• WP1: Spread and transmission of A&ARB&ARGs under wastewater reuse scenarios – Understanding of the mechanisms related to the fate/evolution of A&ARB&ARGs transmission from treated wastewater to soil, crops, and water resources and assessing of their potential risks
• WP2: Evaluation of A&ARB&ARGs effects and hazard identification – Development of novel tools for the detection of antibiotic resistance in wastewater/water/soil/crops and identification of the transformation products (TPs) of selected antibiotics formed by selected treatment processes
• WP3 – Innovative technological solutions for the removal of A&ARB&ARGs – Evaluation of the efficiency of innovative technologies for minimizing A&ARB&ARGs and determination of their market penetration potential
• WP4 – A&ARB&ARGs fate prediction through modelling approaches – Development of models to describe/predict the fate of A&ARB&ARGs from treated wastewater to soil, ground/surface water, and crops and assessment of their potential risk
• WP5 – Data management, prioritisation and policy guidelines development – Integration of all empirical data in a web-based database for automated prioritisation of chemical/biological risk factors and establishment of ELVs for antibiotics, TPs and ARB&ARGs in wastewater

For more information on this project, please visit the project website at visit: http://www.answer-itn.eu/

You can also follow the activities of the ASNWER project on Twitter, Facebook and ResearchGate.