A Rapid and Green Method for the Determination of Veterinary Pharmaceuticals in Swine Wastewater by Fluorescence Spectrophotometry

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology 2019-10, Vol.103 (4), p.610-616
• Main Authors: León-Aguirre, Karina, Hernández-Núñez, Emanuel, González-Sánchez, Avel, Méndez-Novelo, Roger, Ponce-Caballero, Carmen, Giácoman-Vallejos, Germán
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaerobic digestion; Animal wastes; Antibiotics; Aquatic Pollution; Contamination; Digesters; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Enrofloxacin; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental impact; Farms; Fluorescence; Oxytetracycline; Pharmaceuticals; Pollution; Soil Science & Conservation; Spectrophotometry; Sulfamethoxazole; Swine; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater treatment; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-019-02701-2

A growing concern exists over water contamination by veterinary pharmaceuticals from small pig farms in Yucatan, Mexico, where the anaerobic digesters installed as the wastewater treatment system are not operated properly. Therefore, considerable interest exists to develop analytical methods to detect these compounds and characterize their fate in the environment. In this study, the detection of three antibiotics (enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline and sulfamethoxazole) and a β-agonist (ractopamine) was carried out using fluorescence spectrophotometry, with a semi-quantitative approach and a low environmental impact. Wastewater samples from 10 pig farms were analyzed, detecting concentrations of approximately 0.043 μg mL −1 for enrofloxacin, 1.427 μg mL −1 for oxytetracycline, and 9.748 μg mL −1 for sulfamethoxazole. The detection of these pharmaceuticals in the effluents of treated wastewater from the biodigesters of the pig farms suggests the need to optimize the system and prevent the entry of these compounds into the environment.