Occurrence, Distribution, and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in a Subtropical River-Reservoir System

Abstract

Antibiotic pollutions in the aquatic environment have attracted widespread attention due to their ubiquitous distribution and antibacterial properties. The occurrence, distribution, and ecological risk assessment of 17 common antibiotics in this study were preformed in a vital drinking water source represented as a river-reservoir system in South China. In general, 15 antibiotics were detected at least once in the watershed, with the total concentrations of antibiotics in the water samples ranging from 193.6 to 863.3 ng/L and 115.1 to 278.2 µg/kg in the sediment samples. For the water samples, higher rain runoff may contribute to the levels of total concentration in the river system, while perennial anthropic activity associated with the usage pattern of antibiotics may be an important factor determining similar sources and release mechanisms of antibiotics in the riparian environment. Meanwhile, the reservoir system could act as a stable reactor to influence the level and composition of antibiotics exported from the river system. For the sediment samples, hydrological factor in the reservoir may influence the antibiotic distributions along with seasonal variation. Ecological risk assessment revealed that tetracycline and ciprofloxacin could pose high risks in the aquatic environment. Taken together, further investigations should be performed to elaborate the environmental behaviors of antibiotics in the river-reservoir system, especially in drinking water sources.

Using a System Dynamics Model for Investigating Potential Levels of Antibiotics Pollution in the Volga River

“…2 Moskva was flooded in 1907 and again in 1926 by the river Moskva, which runs to the river Oka, which runs to the river Volga (adapted after Gorelitz and Zemyanov 2017). Kremlin in the background, red square in front Sanford et al 2009;Ashton et al 2004;Moisenko 1994;Paxéus 2004;Halling-Sørensen et al 1998;Heberer et al 1998;Grenni et al 2018;Vishlenkova 2005;Chen et al 2018). Similar values have been found elsewhere, and in some places, significantly higher values.…”

“…Compiled by Sverdrup et al (2020). One Chinese source claims that Chinese consumption alone was 162,000 t/year in 2013 (Chen et al 2018). In 2020, the global production, hence consumption, will be about 210,000-220,000 t/year et al 2011; Economou and Gousia 2015;Gilchrist et al 2006;Heilig et al 2002;Laxminarayan et al 2013;Marshall and Levy 2011;Zurek and Ghosh 2014;Higuera-Llantén et al 2018).…”

Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Dissemination in Aquatic Systems

“…This special issue comprises of 11 research articles that fall within the scope of AMR. Broadly, topics extend from AMR monitoring and surveillance in environmental resources and effluents from water/wastewater treatment plants [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39], antimicrobial ecological risk assessments of two river reservoir systems in China that are sources of drinking water supply [40,41], and exploring novel strategies of using engineered antimicrobial peptides (AMP) to target specific bacteria to disrupt biofilms that are major causes of chronic and persistent infections [42].…”

“…By using risk quotients (RQs) based on the European technical guidance documentation (TGD) on risk assessment, they showed that out of the 17 antibiotics monitored, four antibiotics (doxycycline, penicillinV, norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin) posed a high risk to relevant sensitive aquatic organisms, as well as imposed selective stress on microbial communities. In another study, of a subtropical river-reservoir system located in the Headwater Region of the Dongjiang River which supplies drinking water to three major cities in China, Chen et al [41] conducted an ecological risk assessment which showed that concentrations of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin posed a moderate risk, while tetracycline posed a higher risk to the aquatic ecosystem.…”

Characteristics of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in Qingcaosha Reservoir in Yangtze River Delta, China

“…China is one of the largest producers and consumers of antibiotics worldwide, and the usage was estimated to exceed 6 times than the consumption in the UK and most of northern Europe [25,26]. In recent years, some studies revealed that the reservoir system could influence the residues and composition of antibiotics exported from the river [27]. Until now, several general studies on antibiotics and ARGs in surface water from the Yangtze estuary were published [20,[28][29][30].…”