Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430074, China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Oct 18;56(20):14439-14451. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c03413. Epub 2022 Sep 28.
This study conducted the first extensive and comprehensive investigation of the whole-scale sedimentary antibiotic concentration, possible drivers, environmental fate, and potential ecological risks in the Yangtze River. Totally, 20 antibiotics were detected in the sediments. Results revealed that the order of antibiotic abundance in sediment was fluoroquinolones > tetracyclines > macrolides > sulfonamides > amphenicols. The total antibiotic concentrations were 0.10-134.4 ng/g (mean: 11.88 ng/g). Of these, fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines were the two dominant antibiotic categories. The dominant occurrence of fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines in sediments suggested that the distribution coefficient () was one of the important factors to determine their fate. Correlation analysis demonstrated that antibiotic contamination was largely influenced by the local scale of animal husbandry, and the positive correlation between antibiotics and heavy metals was likely driven by their common source of contamination and the complexation. Environmental risk assessment showed that tetracycline and chlortetracycline exhibited potential risks from medium to high in the Yangtze River, although most of the compounds posed minimal and low risks. This work provided a valuable large-scale data set across the whole Yangtze River and revealed the contamination profile of antibiotics. Mitigation and management measures to reduce antibiotic inputs are needed for the Yangtze River basin.
本研究首次全面调查了长江流域沉积物中抗生素的整体浓度、可能的驱动因素、环境归宿和潜在生态风险。共检测到 20 种抗生素。结果表明，沉积物中抗生素丰度的顺序为氟喹诺酮类 > 四环素类 > 大环内酯类 > 磺胺类 > 氯霉素类。抗生素总浓度为 0.10-134.4 ng/g（平均值：11.88 ng/g）。其中，氟喹诺酮类和四环素类是两种主要的抗生素类别。沉积物中氟喹诺酮类和四环素类的主要存在表明分布系数（Kd）是决定其归宿的重要因素之一。相关分析表明，抗生素污染在很大程度上受当地畜牧业规模的影响，抗生素和重金属之间的正相关可能是由它们的共同污染源和络合作用驱动的。环境风险评估表明，在长江流域，四环素和金霉素表现出从中等到高的潜在风险，尽管大多数化合物的风险较小或很低。这项工作提供了一个有价值的全长江流域的大型数据集，并揭示了抗生素的污染状况。长江流域需要采取减少抗生素投入的缓解和管理措施。
