Occurrence, fate, and risk assessment of antibiotics in typical pharmaceutical manufactories and receiving water bodies from different regions

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the presence and persistence of antibiotics in wastewater of four typical pharmaceutical manufactories in China and receiving water bodies and suggest the removal of antibiotics by the wastewater treatment process. It also evaluated the environmental impact of antibiotic residues through wastewater discharge into receiving water bodies. The results indicated that thirteen antibiotics were detected in wastewater samples with concentrations ranging from 57.03 to 726.79 ng/L. Fluoroquinolones and macrolides were the most abundant antibiotic classes found in wastewater samples, accounting for 42.5% and 38.7% of total antibiotic concentrations, respectively, followed by sulfonamides (16.4%) and tetracyclines (2.4%). Erythromycin-H2O, lincomycin, ofloxacin, and trimethoprim were the most frequently detected antibiotics; among these antibiotics, the concentration of ofloxacin was the highest in most wastewater samples. No significant difference was found in different treatment processes used to remove antibiotics in wastewater samples. More than 50% of antibiotics were not completely removed with a removal efficiency of less than 70%. The concentration of detected antibiotics in the receiving water bodies was an order of magnitude lower than that in the wastewater sample due to dilution. An environmental risk assessment showed that lincomycin and ofloxacin could pose a high risk at the concentrations detected in effluents and a medium risk in their receiving water bodies, highlighting a potential hazard to the health of the aquatic ecosystem. Overall, The investigation was aimed to determine and monitor the concentration of selected antibiotics in 4 typical PMFs and their receiving water bodies, and to study the removal of these substances in PMFs. This study will provide significant data and findings for future studies on antibiotics-related pollution control and management in water bodies.

Spatial Distribution and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in 15 Pharmaceutical Plants in the Pearl River Delta

“…33 [24] and Croatia (5698.2-8976.2 ng/L) [25] but comparable to those in Taiwan (845.3-3465.3 ng/L) [24], China. The concentrations of SMZ were usually lower than those recorded in the pharmaceutical plants in Croatian (845.3-4320.1 ng/L) [25] and comparable to those in Guangdong (53.6-187.5 ng/L) in China [26]. The concentrations of SMX were usually higher than those in the pharmaceutical plants in Vietnam (87.3-457.4 ng/L) [27] and Tianjin (243.3-1456.2 ng/L) [28] in China but comparable to those in Europe (1737.2-2768.3 ng/L) [24].…”

Pharmaceutically active micropollutants: origin, hazards and removal

“…Fungal species belonging to the orders Polyporales and Agaricales within the division Basidiomycota and class Agaricomycetes are prominently featured in the removal of PhACs and other micro pollutants. Within the order Polyporales, species like Pycnoporus sanguineus, Ganoderma lucidum, Trametes versicolor , and Irpex lacteus are widely recognized for their effectiveness in biodegrading micropollutants ( Zhu et al, 2021 ; Guo et al, 2022 ; Kumar et al, 2022 ; Liu et al, 2023a , b ). Additionally, within the order Agaricales, species such as Gymnopilus luteofolius , Stropharia rugosoannulata , Pleurotus ostreatus, and Agrocybe erebia , although less commonly employed, also demonstrate potential in the biodegradation of micropollutants ( Rovira et al, 2017 ).…”

A comprehensive review on the fate and impact of antibiotic residues in the environment and public health: A special focus on the developing countries

“…Antibiotics given to animals can end up in the environment through different means, such as drug manufacturing, improper disposal of unused drugs and containers, and application of waste materials containing antibiotics. Urban effluent treatment facilities, farming, aquaculture, healthcare facilities, and medicinal product manufacturing facilities are the primary sources of antibiotic residues in the environment (Liu et al, 2023). Recently, AR has been used in human and animal medicine for many different reasons.…”

“…AR infiltrates our environment via several methods, the most prevalent of which are the use of manure as fertilizer, the excretion of grazing animals, and the release of wastewater (Christou et al, 2017). The AR then interacts with the soil through reversible equilibrium, sorption-desorption, and sequestration mechanisms (Liu et al, 2023). Since they tend to stay soluble in soil pore water, sorption mechanisms favor polar and ionizable antibiotics, whereas nonpolar AR is more likely to be maintained in soil organic matter until equilibrium is attained (Arshad & Zafar, 2020).…”

“…According to the reviewed literature, developing countries should build surveillance systems, encourage the careful use of antibiotics, and better understand the connection between antibiotic resistance and antibiotic use to better craft policies to combat the problem (Ben et al, 2019; Chaturvedi et al, 2021; Founou et al, 2016; Menz et al, 2019; Olivares et al, 2020). AR quantification is essential for understanding the relationship between antibiotics in the environment and the health of organisms and performing an ecotoxicological risk assessment (Bombaywala et al, 2021; Liu et al, 2023). However, it is crucial to enhance analytical precision, sensitivity, sample preparation, and the development of screening and quantification methods and assays.…”