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The veterinary antibiotic journey: comparing the behaviour of sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline in cow excrement and two soils

  • Soils, Sec 1 • Soil Organic Matter Dynamics and Nutrient Cycling • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To conceptualize the journey that veterinary antibiotics (VAs) follow between the animal stall and the field, two experiments were conducted. (1) The VAs sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline were mixed into cow excrement; prepared with three dry solid content variations. (2) Cow excrement containing the same VAs was mixed into sandy and clayey saturated soils. The aim was to quantify the solid-liquid partitioning and time-dependent behaviour of VAs at each stage of the journey, to enable mathematical replication of the process in the future.

Materials and methods

In each case, the mixtures were partitioned into their solid and liquid phases and the VA concentration in each was determined using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Sorption isotherms (K d values) and elimination constants (k s: solid form, k l: liquid form) were calculated after various incubation periods.

Results and discussion

Sulfamethoxazole exhibits fast elimination in excrement; environmental contamination is unlikely. Sulfadiazine and sulfamethazine behave similarly in excrement and soils; tetracycline is more sorptive. Small percentages of the sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine and tetracycline masses initially found in excrement may subsequently be transported to environmental compartments in liquid form. However, the majority of these VAs are speculated to accumulate in soil or be transported to surface water systems via soil erosion.

Conclusions

The VA journey has been mathematically conceptualized for the first time and is supported by sorption isotherms and eliminations constants for four commonly detected VAs. Critical findings for sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine and tetracycline are (1) the majority of an initial VA mass resides in excrement liquid; (2) following incorporation into soil, the majority of the same initial VA mass resides in soil solid; (3) VAs found in soil liquid are assumed to be eliminated within a few months; (4) VAs found in soil solid are assumed to persist and accumulate; and (5) VAs are most likely to be transported to surface water systems in solid form (via soil erosion). Due to its rapid elimination in excrement, sulfamethoxazole that stems from veterinary medicine is not assumed to be a major environmental contaminant.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), within the RiskWa-funded project RiskAGuA, grant 02WRS1274A/B. Many thanks go to Heinrich Höper from the State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology (LBEG), Hannover, Germany, for providing analyte-free lysimeter water; to Thomas Pütz from the Jülich Research Centre, Germany, for providing an analysis of both soils that were used; to Henner Hollert and his staff from the Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, for use of laboratory equipment; and to Franziska Ribbe (IWW), Sarah Nelsen, Darja Reich and Mark Richert for their practical assistance with the experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management (IWW), RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Straße 17, 52056, Aachen, Germany

    Caroline Bailey, Holger Schüttrumpf & Roy M. Frings

  2. Institute for Food Chemistry and Food Biotechnology (ILL), Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 17, 35392, Giessen, Germany

    Astrid Spielmeyer & Gerd Hamscher

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  1. Caroline Bailey
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  2. Astrid Spielmeyer
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  3. Gerd Hamscher
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Correspondence to Caroline Bailey.

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Responsible editor: Xilong Wang

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Bailey, C., Spielmeyer, A., Hamscher, G. et al. The veterinary antibiotic journey: comparing the behaviour of sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole and tetracycline in cow excrement and two soils. J Soils Sediments 16, 1690–1704 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1370-0

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