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Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water

Reclaimed water has emerged as a potential irrigation solution to freshwater shortages. However, limited data exist on the persistence of antibiotics in reclaimed water used for irrigation. Therefore, we examined the fate of nine commonly-used antibiotics (ampicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, li...

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Autores principales: Kulkarni, Prachi, Olson, Nathan D., Raspanti, Greg A., Rosenberg Goldstein, Rachel E., Gibbs, Shawn G., Sapkota, Amir, Sapkota, Amy R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28635638
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14060668
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author Kulkarni, Prachi
Olson, Nathan D.
Raspanti, Greg A.
Rosenberg Goldstein, Rachel E.
Gibbs, Shawn G.
Sapkota, Amir
Sapkota, Amy R.
author_facet Kulkarni, Prachi
Olson, Nathan D.
Raspanti, Greg A.
Rosenberg Goldstein, Rachel E.
Gibbs, Shawn G.
Sapkota, Amir
Sapkota, Amy R.
author_sort Kulkarni, Prachi
collection PubMed
description Reclaimed water has emerged as a potential irrigation solution to freshwater shortages. However, limited data exist on the persistence of antibiotics in reclaimed water used for irrigation. Therefore, we examined the fate of nine commonly-used antibiotics (ampicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, linezolid, oxacillin, oxolinic acid, penicillin G, pipemidic acid, and tetracycline) in differentially treated wastewater and reclaimed water from two U.S. regions. We collected 72 samples from two Mid-Atlantic and two Midwest treatment plants, as well as one Mid-Atlantic spray irrigation site. Antibiotic concentrations were measured using liquid-chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests and Kruskal Wallis tests. Overall, antibiotic concentrations in effluent samples were lower than that of influent samples. Mid-Atlantic plants had similar influent but lower effluent antibiotic concentrations compared to Midwest plants. Azithromycin was detected at the highest concentrations (of all antibiotics) in influent and effluent samples from both regions. For most antibiotics, transport from the treatment plant to the irrigation site resulted in no changes in antibiotic concentrations, and UV treatment at the irrigation site had no effect on antibiotic concentrations in reclaimed water. Our findings show that low-level antibiotic concentrations persist in reclaimed water used for irrigation; however, the public health implications are unclear at this time.
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spelling pubmed-54863542017-06-30 Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water Kulkarni, Prachi Olson, Nathan D. Raspanti, Greg A. Rosenberg Goldstein, Rachel E. Gibbs, Shawn G. Sapkota, Amir Sapkota, Amy R. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Reclaimed water has emerged as a potential irrigation solution to freshwater shortages. However, limited data exist on the persistence of antibiotics in reclaimed water used for irrigation. Therefore, we examined the fate of nine commonly-used antibiotics (ampicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, linezolid, oxacillin, oxolinic acid, penicillin G, pipemidic acid, and tetracycline) in differentially treated wastewater and reclaimed water from two U.S. regions. We collected 72 samples from two Mid-Atlantic and two Midwest treatment plants, as well as one Mid-Atlantic spray irrigation site. Antibiotic concentrations were measured using liquid-chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests and Kruskal Wallis tests. Overall, antibiotic concentrations in effluent samples were lower than that of influent samples. Mid-Atlantic plants had similar influent but lower effluent antibiotic concentrations compared to Midwest plants. Azithromycin was detected at the highest concentrations (of all antibiotics) in influent and effluent samples from both regions. For most antibiotics, transport from the treatment plant to the irrigation site resulted in no changes in antibiotic concentrations, and UV treatment at the irrigation site had no effect on antibiotic concentrations in reclaimed water. Our findings show that low-level antibiotic concentrations persist in reclaimed water used for irrigation; however, the public health implications are unclear at this time. MDPI 2017-06-21 2017-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5486354/ /pubmed/28635638 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14060668 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kulkarni, Prachi
Olson, Nathan D.
Raspanti, Greg A.
Rosenberg Goldstein, Rachel E.
Gibbs, Shawn G.
Sapkota, Amir
Sapkota, Amy R.
Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title_full Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title_fullStr Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title_full_unstemmed Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title_short Antibiotic Concentrations Decrease during Wastewater Treatment but Persist at Low Levels in Reclaimed Water
title_sort antibiotic concentrations decrease during wastewater treatment but persist at low levels in reclaimed water
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5486354/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28635638
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14060668
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