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A Preliminary Investigation on the Occurrence and Distribution of Antibiotics in the Yellow River and its Tributaries, China
Author(s) -
Xu Weihai,
Zhang Gan,
Zou Shichun,
Ling Zhenhao,
Wang Guoliang,
Yan Wen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143008x325719
Subject(s) - tributary , norfloxacin , ofloxacin , antibiotics , sulfamethoxazole , environmental science , environmental chemistry , biology , chemistry , geography , microbiology and biotechnology , ciprofloxacin , cartography
This study investigated the residues of antibiotics present in the Yellow River and its tributaries. Ofloxacin, norfloxacin, roxithromycin, erythromycin, and sulfamethoxazole, were found in the river with mean concentrations from 25 to 152 ng/L, and in certain tributaries from 44 to 240 ng/L. The other four analytes were all below the limits of quantification. The results indicated that the detected antibiotics in the middle and lower Yellow River were primarily from its tributaries and ambient wastewater discharge. The concentrations of the antibiotics detected in the river were greater than that in other rivers in Europe. The antibiotics in the river and its tributaries at ng/L concentrations found in this study are unlikely to induce lethal toxicity to aquatic organism but could cause chronic ecological effects.