• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aims to examine the concentration, diversity, and antibiotic characteristics of penicillin G resistant enterobacteria present in pharmaceutical effluent. Methods: Water sampling was performed from a pharmaceutical company in Gyeonggi-do Province, Korea in March 2015. Water samples were plated in triplicate on tryptic soy agar plates with 32 mg/L of penicillin G. Penicillin G resistant enterobacteria were selected from the effluent and were subjected to 16S rRNA analysis for penicillin G resistant species determination. Identified resistant strains were tested for resistance to various antibiotics. Results: Penicillin G resistant enterobacteria were present at 6.2% as to culturable heterotrophic bacteria. Identified penicillin G resistant enterobacteria exhibited resistance to more than 10 of the antibiotics studied. These resistant bacteria are gram negative and are closely related to pathogenic species. Conclusion: Multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria in the effluent suggest a need for disinfection and advanced oxidation processes for pharmaceutical effluents.