title: Fate of antibiotics during wastewater treatment and antibiotic distribution in the effluent-receiving waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China.
abstract: Antibiotics including three β-lactams, two fluoroquinolones and two macrolides, which were the top seven most prescribed antibiotics in Dalian, China, were selected to investigate their occurrence in six municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their distribution in the effluent-receiving waters of the Yellow Sea. Four WWTPs employing different treatment technologies were selected to explore the mechanism of antibiotics elimination during wastewater treatment. Results showed that fluoroquinolones and macrolides were dominant species in both WWTPs effluents and the surveyed coastal waters. Biodegradation was the main pathway for β-lactams removal, however, primary treatment performed better than biological treatment for fluoroquinolones removal. Concentrations of macrolides increased dramatically after the biological treatment, which was probably due to the release of macrolides enclosed in feces particles. In the surveyed coastal waters, reduction of antibiotic concentration with distance was observed. Potential environmental risk caused by the occurrence of these antibiotics should be evaluated in future work.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (MOE), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Linggong Road 2, Dalian 116024, PR China. zhanghm@dlut.edu.cn
authors.forename: Hanmin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Pengxiao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Fenglin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antibiotics; Distribution; Receiving waters; Removal pathways; The Yellow Sea; WWTPs effluents