Distribution of Antibiotics in Wastewater-Irrigated Soils and Their Accumulation in Vegetable Crops in the Pearl River Delta, Southern China

Abstract

Wastewater is increasingly being used to irrigate agricultural land in many countries around the world. However, limited research has examined the occurrence of antibiotics in soil irrigated with wastewater and their accumulation in plants. This study aimed to determine the distribution of various types of antibiotics in different environmental matrices in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region and to evaluate their accumulation and translocation in edible crops. Samples were collected from six sites in the PRD where either domestic wastewater or fishpond water was used for irrigation. Results showed that fishpond water irrigated soils had higher concentrations of antibiotics than wastewater-irrigated soils. Different trends were observed in the accumulation of antibiotics in the different edible parts of various crops. Despite the low human annual exposure to antibiotics through the consumption of edible crops (1.10 to 7950 μg/y), the potential adverse effects of antibiotics along the food chain should not be neglected.

Plant uptake of pharmaceutical and personal care products from recycled water and biosolids: a review

“…3. BCF root of PPCPs in plants grown in soil (Aryal and Reinhold, 2011;Boxall et al, 2006;Carter et al, 2014;Eggen et al, 2011;Holling et al, 2012;Pan et al, 2014;Prosser et al, 2014a;Wu et al, 2010Wu et al, , 2012b. The BCF value was calculated as the ratio of the analyte concentration in plant roots to its concentration in soil.…”

“…In some places, untreated wastewater was also used for agricultural irrigation. Pan et al (2014) investigated five antibiotics in five edible crops that were irrigated with either domestic wastewater (largely untreated) or fishpond water. Norfloxacin was consistently found at the highest concentrations (4.6-23.6 μg/kg) in crop tissues, followed by chloramphenicol (2.6-22.4 μg/kg) and tetracycline (4.0-10.1 μg/kg), while sulfamethazine and erythromycin were not detected in most of the vegetable crops.…”

“…However, an opposite phenomenon was observed by Dodgen et al (2015), who found that these acidic PPCPs were accumulated significantly more than basic or neutral PPCPs in plant roots. (Boxall et al, 2006;Calderón-Preciado et al, 2011;Carter et al, 2014;Eggen et al, 2011;Holling et al, 2012;Hu et al, 2010;Pan et al, 2014;Prosser et al, 2014a;Shenker et al, 2011;Wu et al, 2010;Wu et al, 2012b). The BCF value was calculated as the ratio of the analyte concentration in plant leaves/stems to its concentration in soil.…”

Antibiotics impact plant traits, even at small concentrations

“…Whereas possible detrimental effects of antibiotics taken up by crop plants on human health have been intensively investigated (Grote et al 2007; Kumar et al 2005; Pan et al 2014; Kang et al 2013) the effect of antibiotics on plants themselves, particularly on non-crop species, has received much less attention. There is significant evidence that antibiotics adversely affect the growth and performance of plants (Migliore et al 2010; Liu et al 2013); however, they can also promote allometric responses (see examples in Table 1).…”

Antibiotic‐induced effects on scaling relationships and on plant element contents in herbs and grasses

“…For example, Pierattini et al. (2016) showed that erythromycin concentrations were tenfold higher in roots than in aerial plant parts in Populus alba (see also Pan, Wong, & Chu, 2014). In Lythrum salicaria , Migliore et al.…”