Occurrence, Seasonal Variation and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in the Surface Water of North China

Abstract

In this study, the occurrence, seasonal, and spatial variations of four classes antibiotics were investigated in the surface water of North China. Water samples were taken from 24 sampling sites along rivers in May and August and antibiotics in water samples were detected by SPE-UPLC-MS/MS. The occurrence of all antibiotics except for FLO in May were higher than in August. The mean concentrations of four classes antibiotics detected in May and August were in the following order respectively: quinolones (421.23 ng/L) > tetracyclines (28.37 ng/L) > amphenicols (20.38 ng/L) > sulfonamides (5.79 ng/L) and amphenicols (284.36 ng/L) > quinolones (15.74 ng/L) > tetracyclines (3.05 ng/L) > sulfonamides (0.20 ng/L). The results showed that quinolones and amphenicols were dominant antibiotics among four classes antibiotics. To explore the source of antibiotics from the fish ponds nearby, antibiotic concentration data, which was investigated in the sediment, fish feed and fish revealed a direct relationship between the main antibiotics and fish farms along the rivers. Risk assessment data indicated enrofloxacin and florfenicol could cause higher safety risks to aquatic organisms compared to other antibiotics.