Distribution And Pollution Levels Of Antibiotics From Typical Lakes In Xinjiang

Antibiotics are widely used to treat or prevent human and animal diseases, as well as topromote the growth of animals in livestock and aquaculture operations. They are oftenpartially metabolized in organisms and excreted as the parent compounds or metabolites intoenvironment via urine and feces. As a group of emerging pollutants, antibiotics have drawngrowing attention due to their high consumption and the spread of antibiotic resistant bacterialstrains.We have therefore developed a method for the detection of18antibiotic residues,including quinolones, sulfanilamides, tetracyclines, macrolide and chlortetracycline. Themethod consists of ultrasonic extraction (USE), solid-phase extraction (SPE), liquid-liquidextraction (LLE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS)analysis. This method which was simple, rapid and accurate could meet the requirements formonitoring on antibiotics residues in aquatic environment.This study investigated the residues of18antibiotics in surface water as well as surficialsediment samples of Bosten Lake, in south Xinjiang. The results showed lomefloxacin wasnot detected in any of the samples. Among the18antibiotics considered, ciprofloxacin insurficial sediment was the dominant antibiotic in all samples. The sorption coefficient valuespresented higher sorption capacities of tetracycline, quinolones, macrolide, andchlortetracycline. The cluster analysis revealed elevated levels of pollution in sampling sites1,2, and3, which were situated in a nearby urban area and in the estuary of Kaidu River. Thisstudy demonstrates the necessity of regulating the use of antibiotics and improving themanagement and treatment of their release.The present study investigated the occurrence, distribution and seasonal variation ofantibiotics in the surface water and surficial sediment samples of the Ulungur Lake, in northXinjiang. The concentrations of detected antibiotics in the surface water and surficialsediment samples were typically in the ng/L and μg/kg level, respectively. The contaminationlevels are moderate on a global scale compared with previously reported data. This studyinvestigated seasonal variation of12selected antibiotics (4quinolones,4sulfanilamides, and4tetracyclines) in the surface water of the Ulungur Lake. Higher overall concentration levelsand more antibiotics were detected in dry season than in wet season, which was mainly due tothe difference of the river flow and climate conditions. It was interesting to find different dominant compounds for each class of antibiotics between dry seasons and wet seasons. Theoverall contaminations of antibiotics were serious near the aquaculture area. The above resultsindicated that pollution control for intensive livestock and agricultural activities should bestrengthened in the future.