ICRA-Catalan Institute for Water Research, Girona, Spain; University of Girona (UdG), Girona, Spain.
Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), Part of Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Environ Pollut. 2021 Feb 15;271:116313. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116313. Epub 2020 Dec 15.
Two different methodologies were combined to evaluate the risks that antibiotics can pose in the environment; i) an effect-based methodology based on microbial growth inhibition and ii) an analytical method based on liquid-chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The first approach was adapted and validated for the screening of four antibiotic families, specifically macrolides/β-lactams, quinolones, sulfonamides and tetracyclines. The LC-MS method was applied for the identification and quantification of target antibiotics; then, the obtained results were combined with ecotoxicological data from literature to determine the environmental risk. The two methodologies were used for the analysis of antibiotics in water samples (wastewater, river water and seawater) and biofluids (fish plasma and mollusk hemolymph) in two monitoring campaigns undertaken in the Ebro Delta and Mar Menor Lagoon (both in the Mediterranean coast of Spain). Both approaches highlighted macrolides (azithromycin) and quinolones (ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin) as the main antibiotics in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents with potential risk for the environment. However, no risk for the aquatic life was identified in the river, lagoon and seawater as antibiotic levels were much lower than those in WWTP effluents. Fish from Ebro River were the organisms presenting the highest antibiotic concentration when compared with bivalves (mussels) from the Mediterranean Sea and gastropods (marine snails) from the Mar Menor Lagoon. The effect-based methodology successfully determined antibiotic risk in wastewater, but its applicability was less clear in environmental waters such as seawater, due to its high detection limits. Improving sample preconcentration could increase the method sensibility. Overall, combination of both methodologies provides comprehensive insights in antibiotic occurrence and risk associated in areas under study.
两种不同的方法被结合起来评估抗生素在环境中可能带来的风险；i）基于微生物生长抑制的基于效应的方法和 ii）基于液相色谱-质谱联用（LC-MS）的分析方法。第一种方法经过适应和验证，可用于筛选四类抗生素，即大环内酯类/β-内酰胺类、喹诺酮类、磺胺类和四环素类。LC-MS 方法用于鉴定和定量目标抗生素；然后，将获得的结果与文献中的生态毒理学数据相结合，以确定环境风险。这两种方法用于分析在两个监测活动中采集的水样（废水、河水和海水）和生物流体（鱼类血浆和软体动物血淋巴）中的抗生素；这两个监测活动分别在埃布罗三角洲和马略卡湖（均位于西班牙地中海沿岸）进行。两种方法都强调了在废水处理厂（WWTP）废水中存在大环内酯类（阿奇霉素）和喹诺酮类（环丙沙星和氧氟沙星）抗生素，这些抗生素对环境具有潜在风险。然而，在河流、泻湖和海水中没有发现对水生生物的风险，因为抗生素水平远低于 WWTP 废水中的水平。与来自地中海的双壳类（贻贝）和来自马略卡湖的腹足类（海洋蜗牛）相比，来自埃布罗河的鱼类表现出最高的抗生素浓度。基于效应的方法成功地确定了废水中的抗生素风险，但由于其检测限较高，其在环境水中（如海水）的适用性不太明确。通过改进样品预浓缩，可以提高方法的灵敏度。总的来说，两种方法的结合为研究区域中抗生素的出现和相关风险提供了全面的了解。
