Journal article

Publication year: 2006

Pages: 97-101

Journal: Archiv für Lebensmittelhygiene

Volume number: 57

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 0003-925X

Publisher: Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft

Abstract: 
In recent years, there has been a continuously growing interest in the occurrence, fate and possible effects of human and veterinary drug residues in the environment. In a long-term field study conducted on a sandy soil site from the Lower Saxony Soil Monitoring Program in Northwestern Germany, we recently used liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry to detect persistent tetracyclines and sulfamethazine in topsoil and the corresponding ground water. In the present study, these established analytical methods were successfully applied to water and sediments originating from 15 aquaculture systems raising trouts representative of northwestern Germany. As previously described, tetracyclines and sulfonamides were extracted from sediments with liquid-liquid extraction, and from water with solid-phase extraction. However, only in one of 13 sediment samples chlortetracycline and sulfadimethoxine were found in concentrations of 13.1 mu g/kg and 7.7 mu g/kg, respectively. Furthermore, in four of 15 water samples sulfadiazine (0.23 mu g/L) or sulfadimethoxine (0.14-0.88 mu g/L) were detected. The concentrations measured here do not lead to the expectation of acute toxic effects e.g. on aquatic microorganisms. At present, it cannot be conclusively determined if the antibiotic loads in German aquaculture systems at subtherapeutic concentrations may contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. Moreover, a comparison of intensive livestock farming and aquaculture showed that the pathway aquaculture - sediment - surface water seems to be still of minor importance in northwestern Germany regarding the transfer of veterinary drugs into the environment. Future studies including other areas and other fish species should be carried out to verify these preliminary conclusions.

Harvard Citation style: Hamscher, G., Priess, B. and Nau, H. (2006) A survey of the occurrence of various sulfonamides and tetracyclines in water and sediment samples originating from aquaculture systems in Northern Germany in summer 2005, Archiv für Lebensmittelhygiene, 57(4), pp. 97-101

APA Citation style: Hamscher, G., Priess, B., & Nau, H. (2006). A survey of the occurrence of various sulfonamides and tetracyclines in water and sediment samples originating from aquaculture systems in Northern Germany in summer 2005. Archiv für Lebensmittelhygiene. 57(4), 97-101.