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DETERMINATION OF THE VETERINARY ANTIBIOTICS
POLLUTION IN SOIL FROM AGRICULTURAL SOURCES
M Kaštelan-Macan, S Babic, ć D Ašperger, D Mutavdžic ć and AJM Horvat
Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Marulicev trg 20, 10000 Zagreb,
Croatia, E-mail: mmacan@fkit.hr
SUMMARY
Emission of veterinary antibiotics has emerged as an environmental problem and
a lack of knowledge concerning this kind of pollution requires further investigation.
The antibiotics primarily used in animal medicine are tetracyclines, sulfonamides,
ß-lactames and fluoroquinolones. Antibiotics reach agricultural soils directly through
livestock or indirectly through the use of manure and sewage sludge as fertilisers.
The aim of this work was to optimise the conditions for ultrasonic solvent extraction
(USE) of the most commonly used antibiotics in Croatian veterinary practice:
sulfamethazine, sulfadiazine, sulfaguanidine, norfloxacine, oxytetracyclin, penicillinG/
procaine and trimethoprim from soil samples. Sonication provides a more efficient
contact between the solid and solvent than classic extraction procedures, resulting
in a greater recovery of analyte. The extracted pesticides were identified using a
thin-layer chromatography (TLC) system: HPTLC CN F 254
chromatography plates as
a stationary phase, and 0.05 M oxalic acid/methanol=0.80:0.20 as a mobile phase.
Quantification was performed using a 3CCD colour video camera.
INTRODUCTION
In the past, the emission of so-called ‘emerging’ or ‘new’ contaminants has emerged
as an environmental problem and a lack of knowledge concerning this kind of
pollution requires further investigation. Emerging contaminants are the unregulated
ones, mainly composed of products used in everyday life, such as pharmaceuticals,
personal care products, surfactants, plasticisers, industrial additives, etc. Many
believe that of all the emerging contaminants, antibiotics are the biggest concern, as
their emission in the environment can result in an increased occurrence of resistant
bacteria in the environment, which may lead to unforeseen consequences.
In veterinary medicine, a wide range of antibiotics are frequently used, and as a
result of their consumption, excretion, and persistence, they are disseminated
mostly via excrements and thus enter the soils. According to FEDESA, one-third
of all antibiotics are used for veterinary purposes (FEDESA, 2001). No regulations
exist for concentration limits of antibiotics in soils or water, but some EU directives
prescribe the risk assessment of veterinary antibiotics (EMEA, 1997).
The antibiotics in primary use in animal medicine are tetracyclines, sulfonamides,ßlactames
and fluoroquinolones. The main sources of their release into the environment
are animal farms and aquaculture for fish production.
Antibiotics reach agricultural soils directly through livestock or indirectly through the
use of manure and sewage sludge as fertilizers. Manure samples from pigs contained
up to 3.5 mg/kg of sulfonamides and up to 4 mg/kg of tetracyclynes (Hamscher et
al., 2002; Höper et al., 2002). Antibiotic residues and resistant micro-organisms can
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