Professor Anna Lenart-Boroń of the Department of Microbiology and Biomonitoring at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland presented a special seminar “Anthropopressure, antibiotics, and antibiotic resistance: human footprints trapped in snow” in FABI on 5 March.

Prof. Lenart-Boroń has a special interest studying the impact and pressure of humans on the aquatic environment in Poland, specifically in the mountainous regions. Poland has few mountainous regions, but these are very popular winter holiday destinations and are consequently very crowded, creating large quantities  of wastewater. This is also exacerbated by ski lodges creating artificial snow from water drawn from polluted river channels. Samples from these rivers and lodges have shown bacterial contamination as well as traces of antibiotics. She made the the point that up to 90% of agricultural and human antibiotics enter wastewater unmetabolized and this can have important consequences including building antibiotic resistance. Her research has already aided ski lodge operators to introduce water reservoirs that use UV lights and filters to reduce the bacterial contaminant load of water used to make artificial snow. Prof Lenart-Boroń’s visit included seeking collaborative research opportunities with FABI and other interested parties at the University of Pretoria.