Occurrence and Health Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in Drinking Water of a City in Southern China

Abstract

In recent years, antibiotics have been widely used to treat some human and animal diseases, which due to their large production and usage. The antibiotic pollution in the environment has attracted more and more people’s attention. As a large country in the production and use of antibiotics, antibiotics has been detected in various environmental media in China, even in drinking water. However, drinking water is closely related to the health of residents. It is very necessary to understand the occurrence of antibiotics in drinking water and assess the health risk. Therefore, in this study, taking a city in southern China as an example, it was detected that the concentration of antibiotics in the drinking water was 226.8∼498.1ng/L, and the main pollutants were tetracycline and quinolone antibiotics. The non-carcinogenic risk assessment shows that drinking tap water for residents in this area will not pose a risk to their health.

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“…These authors found values of the hazard quotient (HQ) ranged from 0.00000051 to 0.00215 due to the intake of untreated water from major Chinese watersheds and different drinking water sources, while in this work in children population the mean HQs were between 0.0003 and 0.002 for tetracycline and oxytetracycline, respectively. Liu et al (2021), who studied the presence of antibiotics in drinking water in a city in southern China, concluded that the main antibiotics in tap water in this area were tetracyclines and quinolones. The concentrations reported ranged from 0.227 to 0.498 µg/L and the risk assessment for the residents of this area when these waters are drunk indicated that it would not represent a risk to their health.…”

“…(2017) found only one water sample with oxytetracycline, at a concentration of 0.6 μg/L, while Liu et al. (2021) detected antibiotics in the drinking water of a city in China, in concentrations from 0.227 to 0.498 μg/L, and with a high frequency (tetracyclines account for 25.8% to 64.3%).…”

“…Liu et al. (2021), who studied the presence of antibiotics in drinking water in a city in southern China, concluded that the main antibiotics in tap water in this area were tetracyclines and quinolones. The concentrations reported ranged from 0.227 to 0.498 μg/L and the risk assessment for the residents of this area when these waters are drunk indicated that it would not represent a risk to their health.…”

“…This investigation reached similar results both in the case of waters with a single drug and in waters with two or three drugs present simultaneously. Furthermore, Liu (2021), who investigated 30 antibiotics in drinking water also found that tetracyclines were the main antibiotics present in tap water in a southern Chinese city and concluded that, considering the concentrations found, it does not represent a health risk to the inhabitants. The same antibiotics were detected in the drinking water from the rural area of Córdoba studied in this work and the HQ in all cases was < 0.2, indicating a low risk of adverse effects on human health.…”

“…Combinations of tetracycline and flunixin were also found in 11%, and oxytetracycline and flunixin in 6% of the 53 water samples (Exhibit 5). Li et al (2017) found only one water sample with oxytetracycline, at a concentration of 0.6 µg/L, while Liu et al (2021) detected antibiotics in the drinking water of a city in China, in concentrations from 0.227 to 0.498 µg/L, and with a high frequency (tetracyclines account for 25.8% to 64.3%).…”