Bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of antibiotics in the aquatic and terrestrial food webs of the Yellow River Delta

Abstract

Antibiotic pollution caused by aquaculture industries is a common problem in the wetland of the Yellow River Delta (YRD). Aquatic and terrestrial food webs coexist and interact in wetlands. However, there are few comparative studies on antibiotics in these two food webs. This study investigated the occurrence, bioaccumulation, and trophic transfer of 19 antibiotics in the aquatic and terrestrial food webs of the YRD, and discussed the effects of physicochemical parameters in different food webs. The total concentrations of antibiotics in aquatic organisms and terrestrial organisms ranged from 11.61 to 63.08 ng/g dry weight (dw) and 4.21–9.11 ng/g dw, respectively. BAF (bioaccumulation factor), BSAFa (biota sediment accumulation factor), and BSAFt (biota soil accumulation factor) were used to explore the bioaccumulation capacity of antibiotics. The calculation results of these three factors showed that fluoroquinolones (FQs) had the highest bioaccumulation capacity. As for the trophic transfer, the total concentrations of antibiotics were biodiluted in the aquatic food web while biomagnified in the terrestrial food web. Physicochemical parameters of the antibiotics showed that log Kow (octanol-water partition coefficient)/log Dow (pH-dependent distribution coefficient) and log Koa (octanol-air partition coefficient) were good predictors for antibiotic bioaccumulation in the aquatic and terrestrial organisms of the YRD, respectively. In addition, the increasing log Dow and log Koa led to a rise of TMF (trophic magnification factor) in the aquatic food web while a decrease of TMF in the terrestrial food web. Overall, these results provide insights into the mechanisms on bioaccumulation and trophic transfer of antibiotics in different food webs.