Quantitative analysis of antibiotics in aquifer sediments by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry

Toxicity of soil leaching liquor from coking plant in developmental zebrafish embryos/larvae model

The coking industry in China is the largest coke supplier in the world. Contaminated soil in industrial areas poses a serious threat to human and ecosystems. Most of the studies investigated the toxicity of soil from coking plant on soil microorganisms, while the toxic effects of soil leaching liquor on aquatics are limited. In this study, the composition of soil leaching liquor from a coking plant in Taiyuan (TY) was analyzed, and the developmental toxicity on zebrafish was evaluated. The results showed that a total of 91 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were detected in the leaching liquor, followed by phenols and benzene series. The leaching liquor induced developmental impairment in zebrafish larvae, including delayed incubation, deficits in locomotor behavior, vascular and cardiac dysplasia, and impaired neurodevelopment. The results of metabolomics analysis showed that TY soil leaching liquor induced significant metabolic profile disturbances in zebrafish embryos/larvae. The developmental toxicity of the leaching liquor metabolic disorders may be associated with the leaching liquor-induced abnormalities in zebrafish embryonic development. Metabolic pathways were identified by arginine and proline metabolism, phosphotransferase system, starch and sucrose metabolism, steroid biosynthesis, beta-alanine metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism pathways.

Occurrence and source identification of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in groundwater surrounding urban hospitals

Urban groundwater, serving as a critical reservoir for potable water, faces susceptibility to contamination from discrete sources such as hospital wastewater. This study investigates the distribution and plausible origins of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in urban groundwater, drawing comparisons between areas proximal to hospitals and non-hospital areas. Ofloxacin and oxytetracycline emerged as the prevalent antibiotics across all samples, with a discernibly richer array of antibiotic types observed in groundwater sourced from hospital-adjacent regions. Employing a suite of multi-indicator tracers encompassing indicator drugs, Enterococci, ammonia, and Cl/Br mass ratio, discernible pollution from hospital or domestic sewage leakage was identified in specific wells, correlating with an escalating trajectory in antibiotic contamination. Redundancy analysis underscored temperature and dissolved organic carbon as principal environmental factors influencing antibiotics distribution in groundwater. Network analysis elucidated the facilitating role of mobile genetic elements, such as int1 and tnpA-02 in propagating ARGs. Furthermore, ARGs abundance exhibited positive correlations with temperature, pH and metallic constituents (e.g., Cu, Pb, Mn and Fe) (p < 0.05). Notably, no conspicuous correlation manifested between antibiotics and ARGs. These findings accentuate the imperative of recognizing the peril posed by antibiotic contamination in groundwater proximal to hospitals and advocate for the formulation of robust prevention and control strategies to mitigate the dissemination of antibiotics and ARGs.

Distribution of antibiotics in lake water-groundwater - Sediment system in Chenhu Lake area

Antibiotics pollution in lakes has been widely reported worldwide, however rare studies were concerned about antibiotics distribution in lake water - groundwater - sediment system. Here, a total of 22 antibiotics and 4 sulfonamides metabolites were detected in lake water, sediments, and different depth of groundwater surrounding Chenhu Lake during the wet and dry seasons. N⁴-acetylsulfonamides (Ac-SAs), fluoroquinolones (FQs), and tetracyclines (TCs) were the main groups of antibiotics in the study area. In the whole lake environment, there were more types of antibiotics in the aquatic environments than in the sediments, and the antibiotics distribution was closely related to geographical location. Specifically, the average concentration of antibiotics in groundwater decreased with an increase in sampling site distance from the lake. All antibiotics, except oxytetracycline (OTC), showed a significant decline during the dry season that could be due to the implementation of lake conservation policies, which significantly helped reducing lake pollution. There were obvious differences in the distribution of antibiotics in distinct sedimentary environments. In the surface sediments, the antibiotics content in the reclamation and the perennially flooded areas was higher than in the lakeshore area. The hydraulic interactions in the perennial flooded area facilitated the deep migration of antibiotics into lake sediments. Correlation analysis revealed a good relevance between the distribution of antibiotics in lake water and groundwater. Redundancy analysis shows that dissolved oxygen and temperature were the main factors affecting the distribution of antibiotics.

Techniques for the detection and quantification of emerging contaminants

In recent years, the diverse industrial practices and human inputs widely disseminated emerging contaminants (ECs) throughout environmental matrices, which is of great concern. Even at low concentrations, ECs pose major ecological problems and threaten human health and the environment’s biota. Consequently, people’s interest and concerns on the widespread dissemination of environmentally connected ECs of great concern as developed due to their scientific understanding, technical innovation, and socioeconomic awareness. Increased detection of contaminants may occur from climatic, socioeconomic, and demographic changes and the growing sensitivity of analytical techniques. Hence, this article reviews the determination of ECs in ecological specimens, from aquatic setup (river water, marine water, and wastewater), sludge, soil, sediment, and air. Sample collection and the quality measures are summarized. The preparation of samples, including extraction and cleanup and the subsequent instrumental analysis of ECs, are all covered. Traditional and recent extraction and cleanup applications to analyze ECs in samples are reviewed here in this paper. The detection and quantification of ECs using gas chromatography (GC) and liquid chromatography (LC) linked with various detectors, particularly mass spectrometry (MS), is also summarized and explored, as are other possible techniques. This study aims to give readers a more excellent knowledge of how new and improved approaches are being developed and serve as a resource for researchers looking for the best method for detecting ECs in their studies.

Effect of extracellular polymer substances on the tetracycline removal during coagulation process

In this study, the effect of extracellular polymer substances on the tetracycline removal under hydroxyl aluminium treatment was investigated, and the molecular mechanisms of extracellular polymeric substances mediated coagulation of tetracycline were also explored. The results show that the presence of extracellular polymeric substances could significantly enhance the removal efficiency of tetracycline in hydroxyl aluminium coagulation. Findings suggest that tyrosine and tryptophan in extracellular proteins acted as binding sites to capture tetracycline. Evidences provided by the density functional theory calculations in combination with spectroscopy analysis indicated that two main mechanisms accounted for tetracycline removal in the presence of extracellular polymeric substances and polyaluminum chloride: (1) amino group in proteins and carbonyl in tetracycline were bridged by Al³⁺; (2) benzene rings in tryptophan and tyrosine were π-π stacked with tetracycline, and the amino group in complexes were further coordinated with Al³⁺.

Chemical Fingerprinting, Isolation and Characterization of Polyphenol Compounds from Heliotropium taltalense (Phil.) I.M. Johnst and Its Endothelium-Dependent Vascular Relaxation Effect in Rat Aorta

Heliotropium taltalense is an endemic species of the northern coast of Chile and is used as folk medicine. The polyphenolic composition of the methanolic and aqueous extract of the endemic Chilean species was investigated using Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Heated Electrospray Ionization and Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-Orbitrap-HESI-MS). Fifty-three compounds were detected, mainly derivatives of benzoic acid, flavonoids, and some phenolic acids. Furthermore, five major compounds were isolated by column chromatography from the extract, including four flavonoids and one geranyl benzoic acid derivative, which showed vascular relaxation and were in part responsible for the activity of the extracts. Since aqueous extract of H. taltalense (83% ± 9%, 100 μg/mL) produced vascular relaxation through an endothelium-dependent mechanism in rat aorta, and the compounds rhamnocitrin (89% ± 7%; 10⁻⁴ M) and sakuranetin (80% ± 6%; 10⁻⁴ M) also caused vascular relaxation similar to the extracts of H. taltalense, these pure compounds are, to some extent, responsible for the vascular relaxation.

Applications of Nonconventional Green Extraction Technologies in Process Industries: Challenges, Limitations and Perspectives

This study reviewed five different nonconventional technologies which are aligned with green concepts of product recovery from raw materials on industrial scale, with minimal energy consumption and chemical use. Namely, this study reviewed supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE), pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), ultrasound extraction (UAE) and pulsed electric fields extraction (PEFE). This paper provides an overview of relevant innovative work done in process industries on different plant matrices for functional value-added compounds and byproduct production. A comparison of the five extraction methods showed the supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) process to be more reliable despite some limitations and challenges in terms of extraction yield and solubility of some bioactive compounds when applied in processing industries. However, these challenges can be solved by using ionic liquids as a trainer or cosolvent to supercritical CO2 during the extraction process. The choice of ionic liquid over organic solvents used to enhance extraction yield and solubility is based on properties such as hydrophobicity, polarity and selectivity in addition to a safe environment.

Cytostatic compounds in sludge and sediment: extraction and determination by a combination of microwave-assisted extraction and UHPLC-MS/MS

Cytostatic compounds are an important group of micro-pollutants since they are used to kill cells or stop cell division. For this reason, they are also considered mutagenic. Several cytostatic compounds have been detected in hospital effluents, in the influents and effluents of wastewater treatment plants and even in river water. However, their detection in solid matrices is very scarce. In this work, we have developed a new procedure based on microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) for the extraction of cytostatic compounds from sludge and sediment before determination by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). To develop this procedure, we have chosen a group of eight widely used cytostatic compounds and carried out a systematic experimental design to optimize the extraction conditions. Under these optimal conditions, the studied cytostatic compounds are extracted with good sensitivity, with recoveries ranging from 65 to 122% in sludge and recoveries varying between 49 and 109% in sediment, with the exception of etoposide, which has a lower recovery from these types of samples. The limits of detection were from 0.42 to 79.8 ng g^-1 in sludge and from 0.10 to 87.5 ng g^-1 in sediment. Intraday and interday relative standard deviations (RSDs) were below 15% and 18%, respectively, in both matrices at the tested concentrations. The total procedure was applied to samples of sludge taken from the main wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) and for sediment samples obtained close to the marine outfalls of different wastewater treatment plants for the same island. Graphical abstract.

Screening of multi-class antibiotics in pork meat by LC-Orbitrap-MS with modified QuEChERS extraction

The quantification capability of high resolution mass spectrometry is of great interest to analysts. We described a method for analysis of multi-class antibiotics in pork meat by UPLC-quadrupole (Q)-Orbitrap-MS. The QuEChERS approach with a clean-up step using a sorbent of primary-secondary amine (PSA) and C18 was adopted for sample preparation, and 37 antibiotics including beta-lactams, tetracyclines, sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones and macrolides were analyzed. The Q-Orbitrap method showed high sensitivity with limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.8 μg kg⁻¹ to 2.9 μg kg⁻¹. The method was further validated by intra and inter-day tests with fortified samples. Recovery (85–105.6%) and precision values (RSDs < 15%) for all analytes were obtained. The result indicates that UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS coupled with QuEChERS preparation can serve as a routine method for multi-class antibiotic analysis in pork meat.

The quantification capability of high resolution mass spectrometry is of great interest to analysts.

Microwave assisted solid phase extraction for separation preconcentration sulfamethoxazole in wastewater using tyre based activated carbon as solid phase material prior to spectrophotometric determination

This work was chiefly encouraged by the continuous consumption of antibiotics which eventually pose harmful effects on animals and human beings when present in water systems. In this study, the activated carbon (AC) was used as a solid phase material for the removal of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in wastewater samples. The microwave assisted solid phase extraction (MASPE) as a sample extraction method was employed to better extract SMX in water samples and finally the analysis of SMX was done by the UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The microwave assisted solid phase extraction method was optimized using a two-level fractional factorial design by evaluating parameters such as pH, mass of adsorbent (MA), extraction time (ET), eluent ratio (ER) and microwave power (MP). Under optimized conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.5μgL^-1 and 1.7μgL^-1, respectively, and intraday and interday precision expressed in terms of relative standard deviation were >6%.The maximum adsorption capacity was 138mgg^-1 for SMX and the adsorbent could be reused eight times. Lastly, the MASPE method was applied for the removal of SMX in wastewater samples collected from a domestic wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and river water.

Distribution of antibiotics in alluvial sediment near animal breeding areas at the Jianghan Plain, Central China

Antibiotics are increasingly detected in groundwater, but little is known about their presence in deep underground sediments. In this study, underground sediment samples were collected from pig farms, chicken houses, fishponds and riverbanks in a small region of the Jianghan Plain. Sixteen antibiotics were detected in different layers of sediments in various animal-breeding areas, with the riverbank containing the most pollution, followed by the fishpond, then the pig farm and the least being the chicken house. Samples taken from different sections of the collection sites and tested for each antibiotic compound revealed significant pollution, with the riverbank containing the most pollution, followed by the fishpond, then the pig farm and the least being the chicken house. The concentrations of the targets did not decrease with depth, but increased between 0.6 m and 1.0 m, which was a significant fluctuation. The aquifer sediment analysis indicated that the greatest antibiotic retention was within 8 m, with a small increase between 12 and 16 m, consistent with the depth of sandy aquifer layers. None of the compounds were detected in the deep layer at 20 m but for sulfadiazine and chlorotetracycline. Tetracyclines and Fluoroquinolones were the two groups observed at higher concentrations in most sediment layers, although their residual levels no more than 20 ng g^-1. This study revealed that antibiotics generally exist in the underground environment, along with groundwater migration and particle adsorption. The pollution of antibiotics in alluvial sediments is an immense challenge to groundwater remediation, and its environmental effects should be studied.

The potential implications of reclaimed wastewater reuse for irrigation on the agricultural environment: The knowns and unknowns of the fate of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria and resistance genes - A review

The use of reclaimed wastewater (RWW) for the irrigation of crops may result in the continuous exposure of the agricultural environment to antibiotics, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In recent years, certain evidence indicate that antibiotics and resistance genes may become disseminated in agricultural soils as a result of the amendment with manure and biosolids and irrigation with RWW. Antibiotic residues and other contaminants may undergo sorption/desorption and transformation processes (both biotic and abiotic), and have the potential to affect the soil microbiota. Antibiotics found in the soil pore water (bioavailable fraction) as a result of RWW irrigation may be taken up by crop plants, bioaccumulate within plant tissues and subsequently enter the food webs; potentially resulting in detrimental public health implications. It can be also hypothesized that ARGs can spread among soil and plant-associated bacteria, a fact that may have serious human health implications. The majority of studies dealing with these environmental and social challenges related with the use of RWW for irrigation were conducted under laboratory or using, somehow, controlled conditions. This critical review discusses the state of the art on the fate of antibiotics, ARB and ARGs in agricultural environment where RWW is applied for irrigation. The implications associated with the uptake of antibiotics by plants (uptake mechanisms) and the potential risks to public health are highlighted. Additionally, knowledge gaps as well as challenges and opportunities are addressed, with the aim of boosting future research towards an enhanced understanding of the fate and implications of these contaminants of emerging concern in the agricultural environment. These are key issues in a world where the increasing water scarcity and the continuous appeal of circular economy demand answers for a long-term safe use of RWW for irrigation.