As part of the RoutinEDA project and as an expansion of the current Effect-directed Analysis platform, we are developing a bioassay that detects the presence of antibiotics in environmental matrices such as water and soil. Bacteria that have been made increasingly susceptible to antibiotics are exposed to concentrated environmental extracts. The inhibition of bacterial growth may indicate the presence of antibiotic-like compounds in the samples.   

In the first week of February 2019, we collected effluent water directly from a hospital in Arnhem. We will screen for antibiotics in the extracts that will be prepared from the samples, using the developed bioassay.

We thank Arnhem municipality for providing the opportunity to sample.