Occurrence, seasonal variation and removal efficiency of antibiotics and their metabolites in wastewater treatment plants, Jiulongjiang River Basin, South China.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are regarded as one of the most important sources of antibiotics in the environment. The occurrence, seasonal variation and removal efficiency of 21 antibiotics and 10 metabolites, including five sulfonamides and three of their metabolites, six quinolones, two macrolides, two β-Lactams and five tetracyclines and seven of their metabolites, were investigated in five WWTPs in different seasons in the Jiulongjiang River Region, South China. 16 antibiotics and 6 metabolites in summer and 14 antibiotics and 6 metabolites in winter were found, respectively. The most frequently detected antibiotics were sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, n-acetyl sulfamethazine, n-acetyl sulfamethoxazole, ofloxacin, cephalexin monohydrate and cephradine; of these, the concentration of cephradine was the highest in most of the influent and effluent samples. The highest level of total antibiotics was found in Longyan City WWTPs, where there are more population and swine farms. Seasonal variation of the antibiotics in wastewater samples was also studied. The concentrations of antibiotics in winter were higher than those in summer. The antibiotics could not be removed completely by the WWTPs, and the mean removal efficiency ranged from -71.6 to 56.3%. Of all the antibiotics, the tetracyclines were removed comparatively more efficiently, probably due to their adsorption to sludge. The low removal efficiency of antibiotics in WWTPs could be one of the important reasons for the presence of antibiotics in the environment in Jiulongjiang Region.