journal article·2022-12-12Open access

Antibiotics in Groundwater and River Water of Białka—A Pristine Mountain River

Anna Lenart-Boroń, Justyna Prajsnar, Maciej Guzik, Piotr Boroń, Bartłomiej Grad, Mirosław Żelazny

Applied Sciences· Volume 12· Issue 24

Abstract

Antibiotics are emerging pollutants of great concern, due to detrimental effects of their sublethal concentrations on microbial communities. Monitoring of antibiotics’ presence and concentrations in the aquatic environment is of fundamental importance to the management of water resources. This study was aimed at filling the knowledge gap in terms of presence and concentration of antibiotics in surface water and groundwater in one of the mountain regions in southern Poland. The detailed aims included the assessment of whether there are spatial and/or temporal trends in antibiotic occurrence in water and the investigation of causes behind the changes in antibiotic concentrations. The study was conducted in seven sites (two groundwater and five river water) along the Białka river valley. Antibiotics were subjected to solid-phase extraction, followed by UHPLC/MS detection. Clindamycin, erythromycin, ofloxacin and trimethoprim were the most frequently detected, while the highest concentrations were observed for oxytetracycline and clindamycin. No antibiotics were detected in only one of the groundwater sites. Sewage treatment plant effluent was the hotspot of antibiotic contamination of the river downstream. The detection rates of antibiotics in the examined region seem to be driven mainly by the stability of antibiotics in the environment.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts · Water Treatment and Disinfection · Antibiotics Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Department of Microbiology and Biomonitoring, Faculty of Agriculture and Economics, University of Agriculture, Mickiewicza Ave. 24/28, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Niezapominajek Str. 8, 30-239 Krakow, Poland

Department of Forest Ecosystems Protection, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture, 29 Listopada Ave. 46, 31-425 Krakow, Poland

Department of Hydrology, Institute of Geography and Spatial Management, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa Str. 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland

Funding

National Science Center in Poland · University of Agriculture in Kraków · Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences · Jagiellonian University

References (33)

Show source-provided references
1. Baralla, E., Demontis, M.P., Dessì, F., and Varoni, M.V. (2021). An Overview of Antibiotics as Emerging Contaminants: Occurrence in Bivalves as Biomonitoring Organisms. Anim. Open Access J., 11.10.3390/ani11113239 ↗
2. Sources of Antibiotics Pollutants in the Aquatic Environment under SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Situation10.1016/j.cscee.2021.100127 ↗
3. A Review of the Distribution of Antibiotics in Water in Different Regions of China and Current Antibiotic Degradation Pathways10.3389/fenvs.2021.692298 ↗
4. Viana, P., Meisel, L., Lopes, A., de Jesus, R., Sarmento, G., Duarte, S., Sepodes, B., Fernandes, A., dos Santos, M.M.C., and Almeida, A. (2021). Identification of Antibiotics in Surface-Groundwater. A Tool towards the Ecopharmacovigilance Approach: A Portuguese Case-Study. Antibiotics, 10.10.3390/antibiotics10080888 ↗
5. Antibiotic Residues in Final Effluents of European Wastewater Treatment Plants and Their Impact on the Aquatic Environment10.1016/j.envint.2020.105733 ↗
6. The Role of the Natural Environment in the Emergence of Antibiotic Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70317-1 ↗
7. Ecological Effects of Antibiotics on Natural Ecosystems: A Review10.1016/j.microc.2017.02.006 ↗
8. Occurrence of Veterinary Antibiotics and Chemotherapeutics in Fresh Water, Sediment, and Fish of the Rivers and Lakes in Poland
9. Occurrence of Antimicrobial Agents, Drug-Resistant Bacteria, and Genes in the Sewage-Impacted Vistula River (Poland)10.1007/s11356-017-0861-x ↗
10. How Much of Antibiotics Can Enter Surface Water with Treated Wastewater and How It Affects the Resistance of Waterborne Bacteria: A Case Study of the Białka River Sewage Treatment Plant10.1016/j.envres.2020.110037 ↗
11. COVID-19 Lockdown Shows How Much Natural Mountain Regions Are Affected by Heavy Tourism10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151355 ↗
12. Spatiotemporal Variability in Microbiological Water Quality of the Białka River and Its Relation to the Selected Physicochemical Parameters of Water
13. Seasonality of Antibiotic Prescriptions for Outpatients and Resistance Genes in Sewers and Wastewater Treatment Plant Outflow10.1093/femsec/fiw060 ↗
14. European Medicines Agency (2021). Sales of Veterinary Antimicrobial Agents in 31 European Countries in 2019 and 2020 (EMA/294674/2019), European Medicines Agency.
15. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2021). Antimicrobial Consumption in the EU/EEA (ESAC-Net)—Annual Epidemiological Report 2020, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
16. Optimization of Antibiotic Analysis in Water by Solid-Phase Extraction and High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry10.1016/j.aca.2012.04.021 ↗
17. Kolde, R. (2019). Package “Pheatmap”: Pretty Heatmaps, Version 1.0.12, R Development Core Team.
18. Antimicrobial Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment—Occurrence and Environmental Implications10.1016/j.ejphar.2019.172813 ↗
19. Antibiotics Bioremediation: Perspectives on Its Ecotoxicity and Resistance10.1016/j.envint.2018.12.065 ↗
20. Giebułtowicz, J., Nałęcz-Jawecki, G., Harnisz, M., Kucharski, D., Korzeniewska, E., and Płaza, G. (2020). Environmental Risk and Risk of Resistance Selection Due to Antimicrobials’ Occurrence in Two Polish Wastewater Treatment Plants and Receiving Surface Water. Molecules, 25.10.3390/molecules25061470 ↗
21. Adverse Effects of Levofloxacin and Oxytetracycline on Aquatic Microbial Communities10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139499 ↗
22. EMA Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (2000). Erythromycin Summary Report (2). EMEA/MRL/720/99-Final, 2000, EMA Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products.
23. Global Review and Analysis of Erythromycin in the Environment: Occurrence, Bioaccumulation and Antibiotic Resistance Hazards10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.052 ↗
24. Effects of Erythromycin, Trimethoprim and Clindamycin on Attached Microbial Communities from an Effluent Dominated Prairie Stream10.1016/j.ecoenv.2016.05.026 ↗
25. Studies on the Metabolism and Degradation of Vancomycin in Simulated In Vitro and Aquatic Environment by UHPLC-Triple-TOF-MS/MS10.1038/s41598-018-33826-9 ↗
26. Waste Water Effluent Contributes to the Dissemination of CTX-M-15 in the Natural Environment10.1093/jac/dku079 ↗
27. Moles, S., Gozzo, S., Ormad, M.P., Mosteo, R., Gómez, J., Laborda, F., and Szpunar, J. (2022). Long-Term Study of Antibiotic Presence in Ebro River Basin (Spain): Identification of the Emission Sources. Water, 14.10.3390/w14071033 ↗
28. Presence of Antibiotic Residues in Various Environmental Compartments of Shandong Province in Eastern China: Its Potential for Resistance Development and Ecological and Human Risk10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.003 ↗
29. Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants as Hotspots for the Release of Antibiotics in the Environment: A Review10.1016/j.watres.2012.11.027 ↗
30. Antibiotics in the Aquatic Environment—A Review—Part II10.1016/j.chemosphere.2008.12.006 ↗
31. Concentrations of Antibiotics Predicted to Select for Resistant Bacteria: Proposed Limits for Environmental Regulation10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.015 ↗
32. Chu, H.Y., Sprouffske, K., and Wagner, A. (2018). Assessing the Benefits of Horizontal Gene Transfer by Laboratory Evolution and Genome Sequencing. BMC Evol. Biol., 18.10.1186/s12862-018-1164-7 ↗
33. Occurrence of Antibiotics in Hospital, Residential, and Dairy Effluent, Municipal Wastewater, and the Rio Grande in New Mexico10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.10.007 ↗