Dissipation of chlortetracycline in the aquatic environment: Characterization in terms of a generalized multiphase pseudo–zero‐order rate law

Abstract

The kinetics of the dissipation of chlortetracycline in the aquatic environment was studied over a period of 90 days using microcosm experiments and distilled water controls. The distilled water control experiments, carried out under dark conditions as well as exposed to natural sunlight, exhibited biphasic linear rates of dissipation. The microcosm experiments exhibited triphasic linear rates of degradation both in the water phase (2.7 × 10−2, 7 × 10−3, 1.3 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1) and the sediment phase (3.4 × 10−2, 6 × 10−3, 1 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1). The initial slow rate of dissipation in the dark control (3 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1) was attributed to a combination of evaporation and hydrolysis, whereas the subsequent fast rate (1.8 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1) was attributed to a combination of evaporation, hydrolysis, and microbial degradation. For the sunlight‐exposed control, the initial slow rate of dissipation (1.5 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1) was attributed to a combination of evaporation, hydrolysis, and photolysis, whereas the subsequent fast rate was attributed to a combination of evaporation, hydrolysis, photolysis, and microbial degradation (5.1 × 10−3 μg g−1 day–1). The initial fast rate of dissipation in the water phase of the microcosm experiment is attributed to a combination of evaporation, hydrolysis, photolysis, and microbial degradation, whereas all subsequent slow rates in the water phase and all rates of degradation in the sediment phase are attributed to microbial degradation of the colloidal and sediment particle adsorbed antibiotic. A multiphase zero‐order kinetic model is presented that takes into account (a) dissipation of the antibiotic via evaporation, hydrolysis, photolysis, microbial degradation, and adsorption by colloidal and sediment particles and (b) the dependence of the dissipation rate on the concentration of the antibiotic, type and count of microorganisms, and type and concentration of colloidal particles and sediment particle adsorption sites within a given aquatic environment.