Source apportionment and predictable driving factors contribute to antibiotics profiles in Changshou Lake of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2024-03, Vol.466, p.133522, Article 133522
• Main Authors: Mu, Yue, Tang, Bobin, Cheng, Xian, Fu, Yuanhang, Huang, Weibin, Wang, Jing, Ming, Dewang, Xing, Liangshu, Zhang, Jinzhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - analysis; Antibiotics; aquaculture; cation exchange capacity; Changshou Lake; China; electrical conductivity; Environmental Monitoring; erythromycin; fluoroquinolones; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Lakes; Machine learning; oxygen; pollution; Predictable factors; sediments; Source apportionment; surface water; total nitrogen; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Quality; water temperature
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133522

Lakes, crucial antibiotic reservoirs, lack thorough exploration of quantitative relationships between antibiotics and influencing factors. Here, we conducted a comprehensive year-long investigation in Changshou Lake within the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China. The concentrations of 21 antibiotics spanned 35.6–200 ng/L, 50.3–348 ng/L and 0.57–57.9 ng/g in surface water, overlying water and sediment, respectively. Compared with abundant water period, surface water and overlying water displayed significantly high antibiotic concentrations in flat and low water periods, while sediment remained unchanged. Moreover, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones and erythromycin posed notable risks to algae. Six primary sources were identified using positive matrix factorization model, with aquaculture contributing 21.2%, 22.7% and 25.4% in surface water, overlying water and sediment, respectively. The crucial predictors were screened through machine learning, redundancy analysis and Mantel test. Our findings emphasized the pivotal roles of water quality parameters, including water temperature (WT), pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, inorganic anions (NO3⁻, Cl⁻ and F⁻) and metal cations (Ca, Mg, Fe, K and Cr), with WT influencing greatest. Total nitrogen (TN), cation exchange capacity, K, Al and Cd significantly impacted sediment antibiotics, with TN having the most pronounced effect. This study can promise valuable insights for environmental planning and policies addressing antibiotic pollution. [Display omitted] •The Three Gorges Reservoir drainage affected the spatio-temporal distribution of antibiotics.•Six primary sources of antibiotics were identified in surface water, overlying water and sediment.•Animal-derived antibiotics dominated the aquatic environment, notably from aquaculture.•The key factors contributing to antibiotics in water and sediment were screened by machine learning.•Inorganic ions notably impacted the presence of aquatic antibiotics.