Occurrence of antibiotics in mussels and clams from various FAO areas

Abstract

Filter feeders, like mussels and clams, are suitable bioindicators of environmental pollution. These shellfish, when destined for human consumption, undergo a depuration step that aims to nullify their pathogenic microorganism load and decrease chemical contamination. Nevertheless, the lack of contamination by drugs may not be guaranteed. Antimicrobials are a class of drugs of particular concern due to the increasing phenomenon of antibiotic resistance. Their use in breeding and aquaculture is a major cause of this. We developed a multiclass method for the HPLC-MS/MS analysis of 29 antimicrobials, validated according to the Commission Decision 2002/657/UE guidelines, and applied it to 50 mussel and 50 clam samples derived from various Food and Agricultural Organisation marine zones. The results obtained, indicate a negligible presence of antibiotics. Just one clam sample showed the presence of oxytetracycline at a concentration slightly higher than the European Union Maximum residue limit set for fish. The topic of antibiotic resistance drives more and more the search for contaminants in food towards this class of pharmacological compounds. Although bivalve molluscs are bred offshore, where the antibiotics, eventually illicitly used, could undergo a drastic dilution, these filter-feeding animals, may constitute a means for the bio accumulation of antimicrobials and the distribution through the food chain from the aquatic environment to consumers. We used a validated multiclass method for the HPLC-MS/MS analysis of 29 antimicrobials, and the results of our work are very reassuring for the consumer indicating a very low presence and frequency of antibiotics in the edible tissue of mussels and clams; at the same time it could be hypothesized that the illegal treatment takes place in the purification stage prior to sale.The provenience of the molluscs from various FAO marine areas, even if mostly from the Mediterranean Sea, could be an added value of the study, also accounting that the samples were collected at the Milan fishery market, which supplies all Italy, so being a verisimilar representation of the molluscs consumed by Italian people.Before the submission, the British English was checked and revised by Proof-reading.com. Italy PS; after your request we referenced the 10% similarities you found with iThenticate. The citations were two: all belonging to our research group and dealt with Materials and Methods. This was an imprecision but, as an excusatory, we did not try to auto-cite at any cost. Obviously we added in references the two works We are very grateful to Editor for the opportunity to improve our research and to the reviewers for their helpful comments. We carefully followed their suggestions as well as the Food Chemistry author guidelines in order to make the manuscript more clear and as complete as possible. Therefore, the manuscript was managed as indicated by the reviewers and the editor. A professional English editor carefully revised the manuscript.We hope that the reviewer's suggesti...

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