Occurrence, Distribution, and Ecological Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in Different Environmental Media in Anqing, Anhui Province, China

Haiying Chen, Wenfang Zheng, Xiaoming Shen, Fei Zhang, Xiaoping Zhou, Jialin Shen and Ming Lu
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Haiying Chen: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Wenfang Zheng: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Xiaoming Shen: Nanjing Center, China Geological Survey, Nanjing 210016, China
Fei Zhang: Nanjing Center, China Geological Survey, Nanjing 210016, China
Xiaoping Zhou: Nanjing Center, China Geological Survey, Nanjing 210016, China
Jialin Shen: Nanjing Center, China Geological Survey, Nanjing 210016, China
Ming Lu: School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-11

Abstract: The widespread usage of antibiotics in human and animal medication has brought global concerns over environmental contamination of antibiotic residues. In this study, 16 kinds of antibiotics in different environmental media of water, sediments, and soils in Anqing city, Anhui province were determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. A total of fourteen kinds of antibiotics were detected in surface water, with a total concentration up to 479 ng·L ?1 , while six kinds of antibiotics were detected in sediment and soil with concentrations ranging from 15.1 to 108 ?g·kg ?1 . Ciprofloxacin (12.8–99.5 ng·L ?1 ) and tetracycline (17.2–225 ?g·kg ?1 ) antibiotics exhibited the highest concentration in water and soil, respectively. In spatial distribution, the total concentration of antibiotics in surface water from the highest to the lowest followed the order of urban area, mainstream of Wan River, suburbs, tributaries of Wan River, indicating that the level of antibiotic concentration in surface water is positively associated with the frequency of human activities. In addition, the antibiotic mass fraction in agriculture land and fishpond were found higher than that in other sampling sites. Moreover, the environmental risk assessment results showed that ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, ofloxacin, enrofloxacin and tetracycline might pose medium to high risks to algae and bacteria in aquatic ecosystem.

Keywords: antibiotics; Anhui; spatial distribution; ecological risk (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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