The Role of the Environment (Water, Air, Soil) in the Emergence and Dissemination of Antimicrobial Resistance: A One Health Perspective

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a planetary health emergency, driven not only by the clinical misuse of antibiotics but also by diverse environmental dissemination pathways. This review critically examines the role of environmental compartments—water, soil, and air—as dynamic reservoirs and transmission routes for antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and resistance genes (ARGs). Recent metagenomic, epidemiological, and mechanistic evidence demonstrates that anthropogenic pressures—including pharmaceutical effluents, agricultural runoff, untreated sewage, and airborne emissions—amplify resistance evolution and interspecies gene transfer via horizontal gene transfer mechanisms, biofilms, and mobile genetic elements. Importantly, it is not only highly polluted rivers such as the Ganges that contribute to the spread of AMR; even low concentrations of antibiotics and their metabolites, formed during or after treatment, can significantly promote the selection and dissemination of resistance. Environmental hotspots such as European agricultural soils and airborne particulate zones near wastewater treatment plants further illustrate the complexity and global scope of pollution-driven AMR. The synergistic roles of co-selective agents, including heavy metals, disinfectants, and microplastics, are highlighted for their impact in exacerbating resistance gene propagation across ecological and geographical boundaries. The efficacy and limitations of current mitigation strategies, including advanced wastewater treatments, thermophilic composting, biosensor-based surveillance, and emerging regulatory frameworks, are evaluated. By integrating a One Health perspective, this review underscores the imperative of including environmental considerations in global AMR containment policies and proposes a multidisciplinary roadmap to mitigate resistance spread across interconnected human, animal, and environmental domains.