Affiliation |
*Institute of Plant Nutrition and Resources, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, China. **Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, Chin |
Abstracts |
Globally, besides human medicine, an increasing amount of antibiotics as veterinary drugs and feed additives
are used annually in many countries with the rapid development of the breeding industry (livestock breeding
and aquaculture). As a result, mostly ingested antibiotic doses (30–90%) and their metabolites to humans and
animals, as emerging persistent contaminants, were excreted together with urine and feces, and subsequently
disseminated into environmental compartments in forms of urban wastewater, biosolids, and manures. More importantly, significant amount of antibiotics and their bioactive metabolites or degradation products were introduced in agro-ecosystems through fertilization and irrigation with antibiotics-polluted manures, biosolids, sewage sludge,
sediments, and water. Subsequently, accumulation and transport of antibiotics in soil–crop systems, particularly
soil–vegetable systems, e.g., protected vegetable and organic vegetable production systems, poses great risks on crops, soil ecosystem, and quality of groundwater- and
plant-based products. The aim of this review is to explore the sources, fates (degradation, adsorption, runoff, leaching, and crop uptake), and ecological risks of antibiotics in agroecosystems and possible food security and public health
impacts. Three topics were discussed: (1) the occurrence, fates, and ecological impacts of antibiotics in agroecosystems, a global agro-ecological issue; (2) the potential ecological risks and public health threat of antibiotic pollution in soil–vegetable system, especially protected vegetable and organic vegetable production systems; and (3) the strategies of reducing the introduction, accumulation, and ecological risks of antibiotics in agro-ecosystems.
To summarize, environmental contamination of antibiotics has become increasingly serious worldwide, which poses
great risks in agro-ecosystems. Notably, protected vegetable and organic vegetable production systems, as public health
closely related agro-ecosystems, are susceptible to antibiotic contamination. Occurrence, fate, and ecotoxicity of
antibiotics in agro-ecosystems, therefore, have become most urgent issues among antibiotic environmental problems. Nowadays, source control, including reducing use and lowering environmental release through pretreatments
of urban wastes and manures is a feasible way to alleviate negative impacts of antibiotics in agro-ecosystems. |