Comprehensive insight into the occurrence characteristics, influencing factors and risk assessments of antibiotics in the Chaohu Basin

Highlights

● Clindamycin predominates in the waters, while tetracycline prevails in the sediments.

● Occurrence of antibiotics are significantly different between rivers and lakes.

● There is a strong association between nutrients and antibiotics.

● Sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, and two lincosamides ranked top four highest risks.

Abstract

The pollution of antibiotics in aquatic environments has received extensive attention. Yet, research on antibiotic contamination in river-lake systems, a significant form of modern aquatic environments, still needs to be explored. This study focuses on the Chaohu Basin (China) investigating the occurrence characteristics, influencing factors, and risk assessments of antibiotics in the river-lake system. The total antibiotic concentrations in the water phase and sediment phase were 3.14–1887.49 ng/L and 0.92–1553.75 ng/g, respectively. Clindamycin was the predominant antibiotic in the water phase, whereas tetracycline prevailed in the sediment phase. Notable differences in concentration and structural composition of antibiotics between the tributaries (river system) and Chaohu Lake were observed, indicating the involvement of various geochemical processes in the attenuation of antibiotics during transport to the receiving lake. Spatial analysis suggested that the western river is the primary source of antibiotics in Chaohu Lake. Controlling nutrient influx in heavily polluted areas is crucial to addressing the escalating issue of antibiotic pollution in the river-lake system. The widespread occurrence of clindamycin in the waters is likely due to wastewater treatment plant discharges, and high-intensity human activities continue to exacerbate antibiotic contamination. Risk assessment indicated that sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, lincomycin, and clindamycin ranked in the top four with the highest risks to the most sensitive aquatic organisms. Nonetheless, the antibiotics presented no risk to consumer health. This study provides valuable insights for controlling antibiotic pollution in river-lake systems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Antibiotics / Occurrence characteristics / Influencing factors / Risk assessments / River-lake system

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Youth Science Foundation of China (No. 42007330), the Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resources and Environment (China) (No. ES202124), and the Academic New Talent Enhancement Program B of Hefei University of Technology (China) (No. JZ2021HGTB0112). We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Sanjeeb Mohapatra for his valuable contributions to improving the clarity, grammar, and overall fluency of the English language in this manuscript.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1817-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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