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The residues and environmental risks of multiple veterinary antibiotics in animal faeces

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Abstract

To understand the residues and ecological risks of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in animal faeces from concentrated animal feeding operations in northeastern China, 14 VAs were identified by high performance liquid chromatography, and the preliminary risks of six antibiotics were assessed using the hazard quotient (HQ). The investigated VAs occurred in 7.41 to 57.41 % of the 54 samples, and the levels ranged from 0.08 to 56.81 mg kg−1. Tetracyclines were predominant with a maximum level of 56.81 mg kg−1 mostly detected in pig faeces. Sulfonamides were common and detected with the highest concentration of 7.11 mg kg−1. Fluoroquinolones were more widely detected in chicken faeces rather than in pig or cow faeces, which contained the dominant antibiotic enrofloxacin. In comparison, the residue of tylosin was less frequently found. The risk evaluations of the six antibiotics revealed that tetracyclines, especially oxytetracycline, displayed the greatest ecological risk because of its high HQ value of 15.75. The results of this study imply that multiple kinds of VAs were jointly used in animal feeding processes in the study area. These medicine residues in animal faeces may potentially bring ecological risks if the animal manure is not treated effectively.

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Acknowledgments

The research was funded through the Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 20977010), Special Fund for Environmental Protection Research in the Public Interest (200909042) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2009SD-19).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Yan-xia Li, Xue-lian Zhang, Xiao-fei Lu, Bei Liu & Jing Wang

  2. Nuclear and Radiation Safety Centre, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Beijing, 100082, China

    Wei Li

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  1. Yan-xia Li
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Correspondence to Yan-xia Li.

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Li, Yx., Zhang, Xl., Li, W. et al. The residues and environmental risks of multiple veterinary antibiotics in animal faeces. Environ Monit Assess 185, 2211–2220 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2702-1

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