Simultaneous Determination of Fluoroquinolones and Sulfonamides Originating from Sewage Sludge Compost.

K Kipper,E Haiba,M Lillenberg,L Nei,K Herodes

doi:10.1155/2017/9254072

Abstract

A simultaneous method for quantitative determination of traces of fluoroquinolones (FQs) and sulfonamides (SAs) in edible plants fertilized with sewage sludge was developed. The compounds were extracted from the plants by rapid and simple liquid extraction followed by extracts clean-up using solid phase extraction. The eluent additive 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol was used for liquid chromatographic detection to achieve separation of structurally similar antimicrobials like ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. Identification and quantification of the compounds were performed using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in selected reaction monitoring mode. Method was validated and extraction recoveries of FQs and SAs ranged from 66% to 93%. The limit of quantifications was from 5 ng/g in the case of ofloxacin to 40 ng/g for norfloxacin. The method precision ranged from 1.43% to 2.61%. The developed novel method was used to evaluate the plats antimicrobial uptake (potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), carrot (Daucus carota L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and wheat (Triticum vulgare L.)) from soil and migration of the analytes inside the plants.

Highlights

The increase of the yearly production of sewage sludge compost containing human and veterinary antimicrobials has led to antimicrobial resistance being one of the top health challenges in the 21st century [1]
It is worrisome that pharmaceutical compounds may potentially enter edible food plants that have been fertilized with sewage sludge compost [9, 16,17,18]
Known to be persistent in soils fertilized with sewage sludge compost, can accumulate into food plants [39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46]

Summary

Introduction

The increase of the yearly production of sewage sludge compost containing human and veterinary antimicrobials has led to antimicrobial resistance being one of the top health challenges in the 21st century [1]. The nutrition-rich sewage sludge and compost can be used as fertilizers for plants. The increasing proportions of administered drugs and personal care products are alarming because the compound releases into the environment are not controlled [11, 12] and this is a potential threat to the environment [13,14,15]. It is worrisome that pharmaceutical compounds may potentially enter edible food plants that have been fertilized with sewage sludge compost [9, 16,17,18]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion