Implications of fluoroquinolone contamination for the aquatic environment—A review

Abstract

Until recently, the behaviors of antibiotics and their ecotoxicological impact have been overlooked in the environment. The topic is broad and encompasses a wide range of organisms including microorganisms, algae, invertebrates, and vertebrates inhabiting various aquatic ecosystems. Changing the equilibrium of any 1 component in such systems disrupts the balance of the whole system. The manufacturing and frequent use of fluoroquinolones in human and animal medicine raises great concern over the increase of antibiotic resistance prevalence in microorganisms; however, in addition, the fate of antibiotic parent and metabolite compounds entering environmental ecosystems through various pathways raises environmental impact concerns. Research has focused on the concentration of antibiotics present in environmental samples and the acute toxicity to organisms by way of animal assessment models; however, it remains unclear what role low-level chronic exposure plays in ecotoxicological effects on lifeforms in aquatic environments. The aim of the present review was to assess the levels of fluorquinolone use in animal and human medicine, to determine the pathways of dissemination, and to highlight the ecotoxicological implications in freshwater environments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2647-2656. # 2016 SETAC

Drug Disposal: Knowledge and Practice Among Pharmacy Students in Brazil

“…However, many people use the inadequate method for lack of choice (34). Several authors had demonstrated that environmental contamination is an important consequence provided by improper disposal of medicines (33,(40)(41)(42). The present data corroborate the literature since the studied population reported that inappropriate disposal might result in critical problems, as soil and water contamination.…”

Migration and Transformation of Ofloxacin by Free Chlorine in Water Distribution System

“…In recent years, antibiotics and fluoroquinolones have been widely used in the treatment of various infectious diseases due to their broad antibacterial spectrum and strong efficacy [1][2][3]. However, as the use of these antibiotics and fluoroquinolones increases, some of them have been detected in the environment.…”

Automatic solid-phase extraction by programmable flow injection coupled to chromatographic fluorimetric determination of fluoroquinolones

“…This antimicrobial class play a crucial role for the treatment of human and veterinary bacterial diseases. 3 Their slow rates of degradation and their persistence in the aquatic environment can increase the potential for formation of resistance mechanisms and ecotoxicity. 1,4,5 Moreover, sewage water treatment plants are not able to completely remove these compounds.…”