Treated wastewater, sewage sludge and other solid matrices are increasingly identified as reliable alternative sources for a range of applications. Although the reuse practice is accompanied by a number of benefits, a number of questions are still open regarding the release of contaminants of emerging concern. Current open challenges include the spread of chemicals and biological contaminants (e.g. viral genetic material, antibiotic resistance genes and bacteria). The occurrence and the effects of these new type of contaminants is unknown.

The NORMAN ARB&ARGs database is an effort to aggregate information regarding the occurrence of these contaminants and associate their occurrence with organic contaminants of emerging concern. The data that will be contributed is expected to establish baseline concentration levels in wastewater intended for reuse and in other matrices. The database was initiated by the ITN MSCA ANSWER project (http://www.answer-itn.eu/) and was handed over to NORMAN association WG5.

Therefore, NORMAN ARB&ARG database is expected to support

  1. automated prioritisation of biological risk factors
  2. use of data in models for large scale projections
  3. use of data for policy development
  4. derivation of transparent science-based emission limit values (ELVs) for the target microcontaminants in matrices intended for reuse

How to submit data

To include data into the NORMAN ARB&ARG database, please use the DATA COLLECTION TEMPLATES (DCT) which can be downloaded at https://www.norman-network.com/nds/bacteria/downloadDCT.php.

The completed DCTs should be sent to the NORMAN ARB&ARG Database Team: Nikiforos Alygizakis (alygizakis@ei.sk), Despo Fatta-Kassinos (dfatta@ucy.ac.cy) and Jaroslav Slobodnik (slobodnik@ei.sk) with copy to Lian Lundy (L.Lundy@mdx.ac.uk) and Geneviève Deviller (genevieve.deviller@derac.eu) for quality check and upload to the web-database.


Should you use the ARB&ARG, please cite the platform using the URL https://www.norman-network.com/nds/bacteria/ and refer to the publication

Nikiforos Alygizakis, Kelsey Ng, Ľuboš Čirka, Thomas Berendonk, Francisco Cerqueira, Eddie Cytryn, Geneviève Deviller, Gianuario Fortunato, Iakovos C. Iakovides, Ioannis Kampouris, Irene Michael-Kordatou, Foon Yin Lai, Lian Lundy, Celia M. Manaia, Roberto B.M. Marano, Gabriela K. Paulus, Benjamin Piña, Elena Radu, Luigi Rizzo, Katarzyna Ślipko, Norbert Kreuzinger, Nikolaos S. Thomaidis, Valentina Ugolini, Ivone Vaz-Moreira, Jaroslav Slobodnik, Despo Fatta-Kassinos. Making Waves: The NORMAN Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Resistance Genes Database (NORMAN ARB&ARG) – an invitation for collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance. Wat Res, 257, 121689 (2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.121689