Reactions and behavior relevant to chemical and physical properties of various veterinary antibiotics in soil

Abstract

Due to possible environmental risks by a potential for reaching the surface and groundwater environment through soil for veterinary antibiotics (VAs) to treat disease and protect the health of animals, understanding reactivity and behavior of VAs have been recognized as one of the emerging issues in soil environment. VAs released via urine and faeces into the soil environment can be dispersed through a number of physical and chemical processes within soil. These processes including sorption, leaching and degradation being the three important processes in the soil-water systems are driven by the physico-chemical properties of the antibiotics, such as their molecular structure, size, shape, solubility, speciation, and hydrophobicity. However, only a few systematic investigations related to the reactions and behavior of VAs in soil exist. Therefore, the basic chemistry of these compounds should be understood before discussing their fate and transport of VAs in the soil environment. In this review, we have attempted to summarize the latest information available in the literature on the reactions and behavior of VAs in the soil environment.