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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria turn up in six lakes, with urban waters hit hardest

Phys · · 835 words · By Forschungsverbund Berlin e V

A study published in iScience analyzed water and sediment samples from six water bodies in Germany to identify antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The research found higher concentrations of these genes in urban waters and wastewater treatment plants, though some were also detected in rural lake sediments and farm ponds.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-lakes-urban.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

14 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

info Single Source 5
schedule Pending 4
verified Verified By Reference 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
check_circle Corroborated 1
info
“A team of scientists from Berlin analyzed water and sediment samples from six water bodies in Berlin and the adjacent federal states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as the inflow and outflow of a wastewater treatment plant in Berlin.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim is explicitly stated in one web search result ('Urban water bodies are heavily contaminated with antibiotic-resistant...'), but no other independent source corroborates the specific details of this study's sampling locations.
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web search NEUTRAL — Mecklenburgˈ from Mękelborg [ˈmɛːkəlbɔrx]) is a historical region in what is now northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecklenburg
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web search NEUTRAL — A team of scientists from Berlin analysed water and sediment samples from six water bodies in Berlin and the adjacent federal states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as the in…
https://idw-online.de/en/news870190
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web search NEUTRAL — Mehr Tempo für mehr Schiene: Brandenburg und Berlin wollen Initiative...
https://www.brandenburg.de/sixcms/detail.php
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“The scientists analyzed bacteria found in these samples and detected a higher diversity and load of antibiotic resistance genes in urban samples.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that urban samples carry higher loads and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) compared to rural samples.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Urban samples carry the highest antibiotic resistance gene loads. A total of 114 different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that confer resistance to 16 antibiotic classes were identified in the 48 s…
https://www.academia.edu/96854958/Metagenome_Wide_Analysis_o…
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web search NEUTRAL — The scientists analysed bacteria found in these samples and detected a higher diversity and load of antibiotic resistance genes in urban samples.
https://idw-online.de/en/news870190
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web search NEUTRAL — Urban samples carry the highest antibiotic resistance gene loads. A total of 114 different antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) that confer resistance to 16 antibiotic classes were identified in the 48 …
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8407206/
info
“The study is published in the journal iScience.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim discusses other studies on antibiotic resistance in lakes and clouds, but none of the results confirm that this specific study was published in the journal iScience.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In this study, antibiotic resistance in Lake Taihu was investigated and this was the first thorough data obtained through culture-dependent methods. High percentages of resistance to streptomycin and …
https://www.academia.edu/61677783/Antibiotic_Resistant_Bacte…
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web search NEUTRAL — Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics can live on the surfaces of plants or within the soil, but they can also survive in clouds, meaning they can travel thousands of kilometres and potentially i…
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-spre…
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web search NEUTRAL — Antibiotic-resistant bacteria was discovered at the Zwischenahner lake, popular with swimmers Image: picture alliance/dpa/C. Jaspersen. "This is really alarming," Tim Eckmanns from the Robert Koch Ins…
https://www.dw.com/en/german-scientists-find-antiobiotic-res…
info
“A team from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), in collaboration with colleagues from Potsdam (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), analyzed water and sediment samples from the Weißer See and the Müggelsee in Berlin, the Stechlinsee and the Dagowsee in Brandenburg, the Haussee in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a farm pond in Brandenburg and the inflow and effluent of a wastewater treatment plant in Berlin.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the evidence confirms the existence of the Leibniz-IZW and Leibniz-IGB institutes, the specific list of sampled lakes and the collaboration with Vienna/Potsdam for this specific study is not corroborated by a second independent source in the provided results.
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web search NEUTRAL — Through innovative research on the structure and functioning of freshwaters, their biodiversity, ecosystem services and responses to global change, we make a relevant contribution to a better understa…
https://www.igb-berlin.de/en
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web search NEUTRAL — With our mission "evolutionary wildlife research for conservation", we work towards the vision of understanding and improving the adaptability of wildlife in the context of global change. In order to …
https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/research-teaching.html
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web search NEUTRAL — A new study led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the University of Potsdam shows that 23 percent of the insect species consumed by common noctul…
https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/
verified
“We were able to identify a total of 18 classes of 'antibiotic resistance genes' (ARGs)—varying in diversity and load at the different sites.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence discusses ARGs in general or in retail settings, but does not mention the specific finding of '18 classes' for the study in question. Wikipedia results provided are irrelevant (referring to the number 18 or iOS 18).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eighteen or 18 may refer to: 18 (number) One of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/18
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — iOS 18 is the eighteenth major release of Apple's iOS operating system for the iPhone. It was announced on June 10, 2024, at the 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), and made publicly availabl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_18
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mentalist is an American procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mentalist
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“All 18 of the resistance gene classes identified were present in the inflow to the wastewater treatment plant, and 16 of these were also found in the effluent”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence discusses wastewater treatment and ARGs in general, but does not provide the specific numbers (18 in inflow, 16 in effluent) for this study. Wikipedia results are irrelevant (referring to Alternate Reality Games or the palace in Kabul).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' idea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Arg is the presidential palace of Afghanistan, located in Kabul. Since the 2021 abolition of the Afghan presidency by the Taliban, it has served as the meeting place of the Cabinet of Afghanistan.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arg,_Kabul
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Sako ARG (lit. 'Arctic Rifle Generation') is a Finnish family of assault and battle rifles designed and manufactured by Sako.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sako_ARG
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
“The treatment process was evidently only able to remove or sufficiently dilute the bacteria resistant to glycopeptide antibiotics and nitroimidazoles; all other ARG classes remained present in the treated water.”
SINGLE SOURCE
This specific finding regarding glycopeptide antibiotics and nitroimidazoles is explicitly mentioned in one web search result ('Urban water bodies are heavily contaminated with antibiotic-resistant...'), but not corroborated by others.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Effective treatment strategies for the removal of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, antibiotic-resistance genes, and antibiotic residues in the effluent from wastewater treatment plants receiving municip…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974912…
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web search NEUTRAL — The treatment process was evidently only able to remove or sufficiently dilute the bacteria resistant to glycopeptide antibiotics and nitroimidazoles; all other ARG classes remained present in the tre…
https://www.izw-berlin.de/en/press-release/urban-water-bodie…
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web search NEUTRAL — Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have shown to be effective in reducing the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), serving as a crucial barrier to the transmission of ARGs through ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41545-025-00456-4
info
“nine classes of antibiotic-resistant genes were detected in the surface water of Müggelsee, and a further nine were found in the sediment of Weißer See”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific count of nine ARG classes in Müggelsee surface water and nine in Weißer See sediment is found in one web search result, with no independent corroboration.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In second place in the ranking are urban waters: nine classes of antibiotic-resistant genes were detected in the surface water of Müggelsee, and a further nine were found in the sediment of Weißer See…
https://idw-online.de/en/news870190
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web search NEUTRAL — Music video by Nine Inch Nails performing We're In This Together. (C) 1999 Nothing Records Inc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9BfvPjsXXw
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web search NEUTRAL — The preferred interpretation of the metal enrichments within the Amapari Marker band sedimentary rocks is that they formed in a shallow water environment at a redox and/or pH front within the ripple u…
https://cosmochemistry-papers.com/2026/04/27/amapari-marker-…
help
“the surface water of Haussee, Stechlinsee and Dagowsee was free of detectable ARGs.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute this claim.
help
“the class of genes responsible for resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics was present in higher total loads in sediments than in water.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute this claim.
schedule
“Fewer different resistance gene classes (six) were detected in the water samples from the farm pond situated amidst fields in western Brandenburg than in the water of Lake Müggelsee and in the inflows and outflows of the treatment plant, but more than in the water of Stechlinsee, Haussee or Dagowsee.”
PENDING
schedule
“The ARG classes found in the pond bacteria largely corresponded to those detected in urban water bodies: aminoglycosides, phenicols and tetracyclines.”
PENDING
schedule
“Significantly more ARG classes were detected in the waters of Lake Müggelsee than in the other two urban lakes”
PENDING
schedule
“Pau De Yebra et al, Diversity of antibiotic resistance genes increases in urbanized lakes: a multi-tool screening, iScience (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2026.115892”
PENDING
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.