Halting Environmental Antimicrobial Resistance Dissemination (HEARD)

HEARD addresses antimicrobial resistance - an emerging global threat.  We quantify how wastewater treatment processes affect antimicrobial resistance and how wastewater treatment plants and the receiving environment interact to affect this spread. Wastewater treatment plants serve as critical nodes for the collection and potential dissemination of antimicrobial wastes, bacteria, virus, resistance genes, and ecological stressors.

An international approach to this problem is merited due to differences in antimicrobial use and disposal practices, differences in wastewater treatment methods, and the wide variability of receiving environments. Knowledge gained by studying any one particular wastewater system has the potential to inform other wastewater systems, but only if consistent methodologies and approaches are used.