Sulfonamide Antibiotics in Natural and Treated Waters: Environmental and Human Health Risks

Abstract

Concern regarding the environmental presence of sulfonamides and other species of antibiotics has focused mainly on the potential spread of antimicrobial resistance. However, their biological activity and high resistance to biodegradation may lead to long residence times in both water and soil matrices. Treated waters represent one of the main entrance pathways of these antimicrobials into the environment, and their potential impact in the aquatic ecosystems should be fully understood and investigated. Long-term ecological risks and unpredicted effects can result from unintentional exposure of different organisms and even human health could be negatively affected. This chapter aims to review the current knowlegde regarding sulfonamides ecotoxicity and to highlight the need for further data on the fate and ecotoxicity fo this family of antibiotics.