Occurrence, Distribution, and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment of the Karst Plateau Wetland of Yangtze River Basin, Southwestern China

Feng Guo, Yanan Wang, Jie Peng, Hetian Huang, Xiangting Tu, Hu Zhao, Nan Zhan, Zhu Rao, Gaofeng Zhao and Hongbo Yang
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Feng Guo: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Yanan Wang: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Jie Peng: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Hetian Huang: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Xiangting Tu: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Hu Zhao: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Nan Zhan: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Zhu Rao: Key Laboratory of Eco-Geochemistry, Ministry of Natural Resource, National Research Center for Geoanalysis, Beijing 100037, China
Gaofeng Zhao: Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Hongbo Yang: Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Disease Control, School of Public Health, Ministry of Education, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550025, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: In this study, the occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk of 40 commonly used antibiotics, including 15 sulfonamides (SAs), 9 fluoroquinolones (FQs), 7 macrolides (MCs), 3 tetracyclines (TCs), 2 chloramphenicols (CAPs), and 4 other categories, in the aquatic environment of the karst plateau wetland Caohai of the Yangtze River basin in southwestern China are reported. In total, 27 antibiotics were detected, with the detection rate ranging from 5% to 100%. The total concentration at each site ranged from 21.8 ng/L to 954 ng/L, with the average concentration being 189 ng/L. FQs and MCs were the most predominant categories, contributing 29.3% and 25.0% of the total antibiotic burden. The five most commonly detected antibiotics were ciprofloxacin (CIP), oxytetracycline (OTC), acetyl sulfamethoxazole (ASMZ), norfloxacin (NOR), and florfenicol (FF). The spatial distribution of the total concentration at each site demonstrated a decreasing trend from the southeastern area upstream adjoining the main counties to the northwestern area downstream, indicating that human activities have a great impact. Meanwhile, the natural attenuation rates of different types of antibiotics in the direction of flow ranged from 17.6% to 100%, which implied the natural purification potential of the wetland for antibiotics. The cluster analysis results indicated that domestic sewage and wastewater from agriculture and animal husbandry were the main sources of contamination in the surrounding wetland. Risk quotients (RQs) assessment showed that most of the individuals were at low to medium risk and that the adverse risks posed by mixtures of antibiotics were higher than those posed by the individual antibiotics.

Keywords: antibiotics; aquatic environment; plateau wetland; occurrence; distribution; risk assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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