Contamination Characteristics and Ecological Risk of Antibiotics in Contaminated Sites of Typical Pharmaceutical Factories in China

Abstract

To understand the contamination characteristics and ecological risk of antibiotics in contaminated fields of pharmaceutical plants， samples of the surface soil， soil column， wastewater treatment process water， ground water， and residue dregs were collected from two typical antibiotic pharmaceutical plants in South and North China. A total of 87 commonly used antibiotics were quantified using ultrasound extraction-solid phase extraction and ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that a total of 31 antibiotics of five classes were detected in all types of samples， and the maximum concentrations at each sampling point in the surface soil， soil column， residue dregs， wastewater treatment process water， and groundwater were 420 ng·g-1， 595 ng·g-1， 139 ng·g-1， 1 151 ng·L-1， and 6.65 ng·L-1， respectively. Most of the antibiotics were found in the surface soil， showing a decreasing trend with the depth of the soil column. The ecological risk assessment indicated that sulfamethazine， sulfaquinoxaline， tetracycline， chlorotetracycline， and D-sorbitol were at higher risk. Improving the efficiency of antibiotic removal from pharmaceutical wastewater and preventing production shop leaks are effective measures of controlling antibiotic contamination into and around fields in pharmaceutical plants.