Pollution profiles of antibiotic resistance genes associated with airborne opportunistic pathogens from typical area, Pearl River Estuary and their exposure risk to human.

Abstract To reveal the selective pressures of near-shore human activities on marine and continental bioaerosols, the pollution profile and potential exposure risk of airborne pathogens and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) in Pearl River Estuaries (113.52 oE, 22.69 oN), a transitional zone between marine and continental environments, were fully explored. The results showed that the total bacteria among bioaerosols varied largely with average pollution levels of 1.86 × 105 and 4.35 × 104 cfu m−3 in spring and summer, respectively, and were high than those of airborne fungi. The predominant aerodynamic diameters of bioaerosols were in respirable size range (