Wildlife contamination with fluoroquinolones from livestock: Widespread occurrence of enrofloxacin and marbofloxacin in vultures.
There is much recent interest in the presence and impact of veterinary pharmaceuticals in wildlife. Livestock carcasses are often disposed of in supplementary feeding stations for avian scavengers, as a management and conservation tool for these species worldwide. In feeding stations, vultures and other scavengers can consume carcasses almost immediately after disposal, which implies the potential ingestion of veterinary pharmaceuticals as a non-target consequence of supplementary feeding. Using UPLC-MS/MS and HPLC-TOF, we evaluated the presence and concentration of fluoroquinolone residues in plasma of nestling vultures feeding on domestic livestock carrion. Three different fluoroquinolones (marbofloxacin, enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin) and a non-targeted β-lactam (nafcillin) were detected in vulture plasma. The high proportion of individuals (92%) with fluoroquinolone residues at variable concentrations (up to ∼20 μg L(-1) of enrofloxacin and ∼150 μg L(-1) of marbofloxacin) sampled in several geographically distant colonies and on different dates suggests that these and other drugs were potentially ingested throughout nestling development. Contamination with veterinary fluoroquinolones and other pharmaceuticals should be considered as an unintended but alarming consequence of food management in threatened wildlife.
Department of Evolutionary Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Spanish Research Council (CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: gblanco@mncn.csic.es.
Guillermo
G
Blanco
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus, University of Barcelona, Avda. Prat de la Riba, 171, 08921 Sta. Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Spain.
Alexandra
A
Junza
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus, University of Barcelona, Avda. Prat de la Riba, 171, 08921 Sta. Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Spain.
David
D
Segarra
Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Martí i Franquès, 1-11, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
José
J
Barbosa
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus, University of Barcelona, Avda. Prat de la Riba, 171, 08921 Sta. Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Spain.
Dolores
D
Barrón
D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000097:blood*; D000077422:Enrofloxacin; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood*; D058751:Livestock; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D019155:Veterinary Drugs / Q000032:analysis
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D019155:Veterinary Drugs; D000077422:Enrofloxacin; C080260:marbofloxacin
Antibiotics; Avian scavengers; Conservation management; HPLC-MS/MS; Supplementary feeding