title: Sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline and oxytetracycline and related antibiotic resistance genes in a large-scale landfill, China.
abstract: Landfills are likely to be important reservoirs of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) as they receive unused and unwanted antibiotics and ARGs in municipal solid waste (MSW). The distribution, transportation and dynamics of antibiotics and ARGs in landfills remain largely unknown. In the present study, 3 antibiotics - sulfamethoxazole (SMX), tetracycline (TC), and oxytetracycline (OTC) - and their related ARGs (sulI and tetO) were quantified in 51 refuse samples from different depths at 8 locations within a large-scale landfill in central China. The average concentration of OTC was the highest, up to 100.9±141.81μg/kg (dw, n=48), followed by TC (63.8±37.7μg/kg, n=40), and SMX (47.9±8.1μg/kg, n=30). Both sulI and tetO were detected in all samples. Of the ARGs, sul1 (-3.06±1.18, n=51, log10 ARGs/16SrDNA) was more abundant than tetO (-4.37±0.97) in all refuse samples (p<0.05). Both sulI and tetO negatively correlated to refuse age, suggesting they are attenuated during landfill stabilization. OTC and TC positively correlated to tetO (r=0.41, p<0.01) and sulI (r=0.29, p=0.04), respectively. Chemical conditions (e.g. moisture content and nitrate concentrations) within the refuse correlated to antibiotics and ARGs suggesting environmental factors impact the distribution of antibiotics and ARGs in landfill matrix. This study is the first comprehensive in situ landfill study to connect the concentrations of antibiotic residues to ARGs.
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing 400714, China. Electronic address: songliyan@cigit.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Chongqing 400714, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geo-environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Jiwu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Geo-environmental Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Haijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.
authors.forename: Shawn P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: McElmurry
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200094, China.
authors.forename: Youcai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002681:China; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D010118:Oxytetracycline; D062611:Solid Waste; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole; D013752:Tetracycline; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D062611:Solid Waste; D013752:Tetracycline; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole; D010118:Oxytetracycline
keywords: Antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs); Antibiotics; Distribution; Landfill; Refuse