Occurrence, distribution, and health risk assessment of quinolone antibiotics in water, sediment, and fish species of Qingshitan reservoir, South China

Abstract

The residual antibiotics in the environment have lately caused widespread concerns. However, little information is available on the antibiotic bioaccumulation and its health risk in drinking water resources of South China. Therefore, the occurrence, distribution, and health risk of four quinolone antibiotics including ofloxacin (OFX), norfloxacin (NOR), ciprofloxacin (CIP), and enrofloxacin (ENR) in the Qingshitan reservoir using high-performance liquid chromatography were investigated. Results revealed that the concentrations in water, sediment, and edible fish ranged from 3.49–660.13 ng/L, 1.03–722.18 μg/kg, and 6.73–968.66 μg/kg, respectively. The ecological risk assessment via the risk quotient (RQ) method showed that the values in sediment were all greater than 1, posing a high risk to the environment. The health risk index of water samples was at the maximum acceptable level, with OFX at the top while the rest were at the medium risk level. The main edible fish kinds of the reservoir had high dietary safety and the highest contaminations were found in carnivorous feeding habits and demersal habitat fishes with OFX as the highest magnitude. Source identification and correlation analysis using SPSS showed significant relationships between NOR with pH and turbidity (in water), as well as total phosphor (TP) and total organic carbon (TOC) in sediment. NOR was the highest in sediment which mostly sourced from livestock wastewater, croplands irrigation drain water, and stormwater. Correlations between CIP and ENR with TP were significant, while OFX was positively associated with total nitrogen (TN) which mainly originated from urban sewage as well as directly dosed drugs in fish farms. In conclusion, our results are of great significance for ensuring the safety of drinking water and aquatic products in this region.

Positive Association between the Use of Quinolones in Food Animals and the Prevalence of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in E. coli and K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa: A Global Ecological Analysis

“…Quinolone concentrations in meat, water and environmental samples exceed this threshold by some margin in a number of countries, but especially so in certain Asian countries. For example, studies have found that the mean concentration of ciprofloxacin in samples of milk, eggs, and edible fish in China to be 8.5 µg/L, 16.8 µg/kg and 331.7 µg/kg, respectively, [28][29][30]. The ingestion of these relatively high concentrations of quinolones in food products was the favoured explanation for the the high median concentration of quinolones (median 20 µg/kg), found in the colons of the general human population in 3 regions of China [31].…”

Positive Association between the Use of Quinolones in Food Animals and the Prevalence of Fluoroquinolone Resistance in <em>E. Coli</em> and <em>K. Pneumoniae, A. Baumanii</em> and <em>P. Aeruginosa</em>: A Global Ecological Analysis

“…Quinolone concentrations in meat, water and environmental samples exceed this threshold by some margin in a number of countries, but especially so in certain Asian countries. For example, studies have found that the mean concentration of ciprofloxacin in samples of milk, eggs, and edible fish in China to be 8.5 μg/L, 16.8 μg/kg and 331.7 μg/kg respectively [28][29][30]. The ingestion of these relatively high concentrations of quinolones in food products was the favoured explanation for the the high median concentration of quinolones (median 20 μg/kg), found in the colons of the general human population in 3 regions of China [31].…”

Biological Effects of Quinolones: A Family of Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial Agents

“…Likewise, different reports indicate that the characteristics of the soil (pH, salinity and temperature) influence the adsorption of FQs in sediments [ 299 , 300 , 304 ]. Huang et al, determined the concentrations of FQs from different environmental sources, finding that detected FQs concentrations represent a risk for human health and the environment [ 305 ].…”