Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance beyond Healthcare: Role of Environmental Monitoring

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an escalating global health threat, with environmental reservoirs playing a substantial yet often under recognized role in its emergence and dissemination. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) enter the environment through various pathways, including anthropogenic activities, agricultural practices, and industrial processes. These contaminants infiltrate natural ecosystems such as soil, water, and air, where they may persist, proliferate, and transfer resistance genes to native microbial communities. Resistant microorganisms endanger both human and animal health and contribute to ecological and public health disturbances. This review focuses on how AMR spreads through the environment, emphasizing sources such as wastewater, soil, industry, and air. It also discusses current methods for detecting AMR in environmental matrices, encompassing traditional culture-based approaches, molecular techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rapid gene identification, metagenomics for comprehensive microbial community analysis, and biosensors for real-time, in situ detection. Furthermore, the review emphasizes the importance of environmental monitoring in identifying AMR hotspots, elucidating transmission pathways, assessing public health impacts, informing policy development, and guiding future research. The results indicate that environmental AMR noticeably drives the persistence and spread of resistance in both healthcare and community settings. Dealing with this issue requires strengthening monitoring systems through standardized protocols and advanced technologies. Governments and relevant stakeholders should prioritize the identification and control of AMR hotspots, such as wastewater treatment plants, agricultural runoff zones, and industrial discharge sites, to control the spread of resistance and safeguard public health.