School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China.
School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong, China; Key Lab Pollution Control & Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Cluster, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center for Environment Risk Prevention and Emergency Disposal, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Feb 25;653:815-821. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.417. Epub 2018 Nov 1.
Antibiotics have drawn much attention as their wide usage in humans and animals may result in microbial resistance, which is a huge threat to humans' health. Studies on the occurrence and removals of antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants have been widely performed, but very few covered their main acetylated metabolites. This study developed an effective analytical method for the trace determination of four sulfonamides and three acetylated metabolites in municipal wastewaters, which was validated by linearity (R > 0.995), sensitivity (limit of quantification, LOQ < 0.78 ng/L), recovery (77.7%-148.1%) and precision (relative standard deviation, RSD < 9.6%). All sulfonamides and their acetylated metabolites were detected in municipal wastewaters including influent, primary settling tank and effluent. Removal performances of sulfapyridine (SP), sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), and N-acetyl sulfadiazine (AC-SDZ) in the municipal wastewater treatment plant were moderate or excellent, whereas the corresponding removals of sulfamethazine (SM2), N-acetyl sulfapyridine (AC-SP), and N-acetyl sulfamethazine (AC-SM2) were poor. The calculated poor removal of SM2 might be attributed to its fluctuation in raw wastewater, whereas the poor removals of AC-SP and AC-SM2 may be due to re-transformation from their parent sulfonamides. Our results showed that monitoring of acetylated sulfonamides in municipal wastewater is important for two reasons. One is that acetylated metabolites are good biomarkers for wastewater-based epidemiology when they are combined with their corresponding parent sulfonamides. The other is that the potential risk of sulfonamides in effluent to the natural environment cannot be accurately evaluated unless their acetylated metabolites are also accounted. This report is the first to address the potential risk of acetylated sulfonamides in effluent of wastewater treatment plants.
抗生素在人类和动物中的广泛使用引起了广泛关注，因为这可能导致微生物耐药性，这对人类健康构成了巨大威胁。已经广泛开展了关于污水处理厂中抗生素的产生和去除的研究，但很少涉及它们的主要乙酰化代谢物。本研究开发了一种用于痕量测定城市废水中四种磺胺类药物和三种乙酰化代谢物的有效分析方法，该方法通过线性（R>0.995）、灵敏度（定量限，LOQ<0.78ng/L）、回收率（77.7%-148.1%）和精密度（相对标准偏差，RSD<9.6%）得到验证。所有磺胺类药物及其乙酰化代谢物均在城市废水中检出，包括进水、初沉池和出水。磺胺吡啶（SP）、磺胺嘧啶（SDZ）、磺胺甲恶唑（SMZ）和 N-乙酰磺胺嘧啶（AC-SDZ）在城市污水处理厂的去除性能为中等或良好，而磺胺甲嘧啶（SM2）、N-乙酰磺胺吡啶（AC-SP）和 N-乙酰磺胺甲嘧啶（AC-SM2）的相应去除率则较差。SM2 去除率较差可能归因于原水中的波动，而 AC-SP 和 AC-SM2 的去除率较差可能是由于它们的母体磺胺类药物的再转化。我们的研究结果表明，监测城市废水中的乙酰化磺胺类药物有两个原因很重要。一是当与相应的母体磺胺类药物结合时，乙酰化代谢物是污水流行病学的良好生物标志物。另一个原因是，如果不考虑其乙酰化代谢物，就无法准确评估磺胺类药物在污水中的潜在风险对自然环境的影响。本报告首次提出了污水处理厂中乙酰化磺胺类药物对环境的潜在风险。
