Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The different fate of antibiotics in the Thames River, UK, and the Katsura River, Japan

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Little is known about the mechanisms influencing the differences in attenuation of antibiotics between rivers. In this study, the natural attenuation of four antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin, sulfapyridine, and sulfamethoxazole) during transport along the Thames River, UK, over a distance of 8.3 km, and the Katsura River, Japan, over a distance of 7.6 km was compared. To assist interpretation of the field data, the individual degradation and sorption characteristics of the antibiotics were estimated by laboratory experiments using surface water or sediment taken from the same rivers. Azithromycin, clarithromycin, and sulfapyridine were attenuated by 92, 48, and 11% in the Thames River stretch. The first-order decay constants of azithromycin and sulfapyridine were similar to those in the Katsura River, while that of clarithromycin was 4.4 times higher. For sulfamethoxazole, the attenuation was limited in both rivers. Loss of sulfapyridine was attributed to both direct and indirect photolysis in the Thames River, but to only direct photolysis in the Katsura River. Loss of azithromycin and clarithromycin was attributed to sorption to sediment in both rivers. The probable explanation behind the difference in loss rates of clarithromycin between the two rivers was considered to be sediment sorption capacity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acuña V, Schiller D, García-Galán MJ, Rodríguez-Mozaz S, Corominas L, Petrovic M, Poch M, Barceló D, Sabater S (2015) Occurrence and in-stream attenuation of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in Iberian rivers. Sci Total Environ 503-504:133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adsorption–desorption using a batch equilibrium method (1995) OECD test guidelines for chemicals No. 106. In: OECD

    Google Scholar 

  • Ågerstrand M, Berg C, Björlenius B, Breitholtz M, Brunström B, Fick J et al (2015) Improving environmental risk assessment of human pharmaceuticals. Environ Sci Technol 49:5336–5345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aymerich I, Acuna V, Barcel D, García MJ, Petrovic M, Poch M, Rodriguez-Mozaz S, Rodríguez-Roda I, Sabater S, von Schiller D (2016) Corominas, Ll. Attenuation of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products in a wastewater treatment plant and its receiving river ecosystem. Water Res 100:126–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baena-Nogueras RM, González-Mazo E, Lara-Martín PA (2017) Photolysis of antibiotics under simulated sunlight irradiation: identification of photoproducts by high-resolution mass spectrometry. Environ Sci Technol 51(6):3148–3156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barber LB, Keefe SH, Brown GK, Furlong ET, Gray JL, Kolpin DW, Meyer MT, Sandstrom MW, Zaugg SD (2013) Persistence and potential effects of complex organic contaminant mixtures in wastewater-impacted streams. Environ Sci Technol 47:2177–2188

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bendz D, Paxéus NA, Ginn TR, Loge FJ (2005) Occurrence and fate of pharmaceutically active compounds in the environment, a case study: Höje River in Sweden. J Hazard Mater 122:195–204

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blair BD, Cargo JP, Hedman CJ, Klaper RD (2013) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products found in the Great Lakes above concentrations of environmental concern. Chemosphere 93:2116–2123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boxall ABA, Rudd MA, Brooks BW, Caldwell DJ, Choi K, Hickmann S, Innes E, Ostapyk K, Staveley JP, Verslycke T, Ankley GT, Beazley KF, Belanger SE, Berninger JP, Carriquiriborde P, Coors A, DeLeo PC, Dyer SD, Ericson JF, Gagné F, Giesy JP, Gouin T, Hallstrom L, Karlsson MV, Larsson DGJ, Lazorchak JM, Mastrocco F, McLaughlin A, McMaster ME, Meyerhoff RD, Moore R, Parrott JL, Snape JR, Murray-Smith R, Servos MR, Sibley PK, Straub JO, Szabo ND, Topp E, Tetreault GR, Trudeau VL, Kraak GVD (2012) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment: what are the big questions? Environ Health Perspect 120:1221–1229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho IT, Santos L (2016) Antibiotics in the aquatic environments: a review of the European scenario. Environ Int 94:736–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2016) The UK, National River Flow Archive, Website; http://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk. Accessed 20 Sept 2016

  • Challis JK, Carlson JC, Friesen KJ, Hanson ML, Wong CS (2013) Aquatic photochemistry of the sulfonamide antibiotic sulfapyridine. J Photochem Photo boil A Chem 262:14–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cizmas L, Sharma VK, Gray CM, McDonald TJ (2015) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in waters: occurrence, toxicity, and risk. Environ Chem Lett 13:381–394

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper ER, Siewicki TC, Phillips K (2008) Preliminary risk assessment database and risk ranking of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Sci Total Environ 398:26–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dickenson ERV, Snyder SA, Sedlak DL, Drewes JE (2011) Indicator compounds for assessment of wastewater effluent contributions to flow and water quality. Water Res 45:1199–1212

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Direct photolysis rate in water by sunlight (1998) Fate, transport, and transformation test guidelines, OPPTS 835.2210. U.S. EPA, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Feitosa-Felizzola J, Chiron S (2009) Occurrence and distribution of selected antibiotics in a small Mediterranean stream (Arc River, Southern France). J Hydrol 364:50–57

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gao J, Pedersen JA (2005) Adsorption of sulfonamide antimicrobial agents to clay minerals. Environ Sci Technol 39(24):9509–9516

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hanamoto S, Nakada N, Yamashita N, Tanaka H (2013) Modeling the photochemical attenuation of down-the-drain chemicals during river transport by stochastic methods and field measurements of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Environ Sci Technol 47(23):13571–13577

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Indirect photolysis screening test (1998) Sunlight photolysis in waters containing dissolved humic substances., fate, transport, and transformation test guidelines, OPPTS 835.5270. U.S. EPA, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Jia A, Hu J, Wu X, Peng H, Wu S, Dong Z (2011) Occurrence and source apportionment of sulfonamides and their metabolites in Liaodong Bay and the adjacent Liao River basin, North China. Environ Toxicol Chem 30:1252–1260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Dinsdale RM, Guwy AJ (2008) The occurrence of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors and illicit drugs in surface water in South Wales, UK. Water Res 42:3498–3518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kodešová R, Grabic R, Kočárek M, Klement A, Golovko O, Fér M, Nikodem A, Jakšík O (2015) Pharmaceuticals' sorptions relative to properties of thirteen different soils. Sci Total Environ 511:435–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kodešová R, Kočárek M, Klement A, Golovko O, Koba O, Fér M, Nikodem A, Vondráčková L, Jakšík O, Grabic R (2016) An analysis of the dissipation of pharmaceuticals under thirteen different soil conditions. Sci Total Environ 544:369–381

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolpin DW, Furlong ET, Meyer MT, Thurman EM, Zaugg SD, Barber LB, Buxton HT (2002) Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams, 1999−2000—a national reconnaissance. Environ Sci Technol 36:1202–−1211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kunkel U, Radke M (2011) Reactive tracer test to evaluate the fate of pharmaceuticals in rivers. Environ Sci Technol 45:6296–6302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Z, Sobek A, Radke M (2016) Fate of pharmaceuticals and their transformation products in four small European rivers receiving treated wastewater Environ. Sci Technol 50:5614–5621

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luo Y, Xu L, Rysz M, Wang YQ, Zhang H, Alvarez PJJ (2011) Occurrence and transport of tetracycline, sulfonamide, quinolone, and macrolide antibiotics in the Haihe River Basin, China. Environ Sci Technol 45:1827–1833

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Managaki S, Murata A, Takada H, Tuyen BC, Chiem NH (2007) Distribution of macrolides, sulfonamides, and trimethoprim in tropical waters: ubiquitous occurrence of veterinary antibiotics in the Mekong Delta. Environ Sci Technol 41:8004–8010

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (2014) Japan, Report (in Japanese, https://www.mlit.go.jp/river/shinngikai_blog/tisuinoarikata/dai33kai/dai33kai_siryou2-1-2.pdf

  • Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (2016) Japan, Water information system (in Japanese) Website; http://www1.river.go.jp/. Accessed 20 Sept 2016

  • Nakada N, Hanamoto S, Jürgens MD, Johnson AC, Bowes MJ, Tanaka H (2017) Assessing the population equivalent and performance of wastewater treatment through the ratios of pharmaceuticals and personal care products present in a river basin: application to the River Thames basin, UK. Sci Total Environ 575:1100–1108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nakada N, Kiri K, Shinohara H, Harada A, Kuroda K, Takizawa S, Takada H (2008) Evaluation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products as water-soluble molecular markers of sewage. Environ Sci Technol 42(17):6347–6353

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Narumiya M, Nakada N, Yamashita N, Tanaka H (2013) Phase distribution and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products during anaerobic sludge digestion. J Hazard Mater 260:305–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Project for monitoring sunlight intensity (2013) (in Japanese) Website; http://www.cs.kyoto-wu.ac.jp/%7Ekonami/climate/index.shtml. Accessed 12 July 2013

  • Radke M, Ulrich H, Wurm C, Kunkel U (2010) Dynamics and attenuation of acidic pharmaceuticals along a river stretch. Environ Sci Technol 44:2968–2974

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Round CE, Young AR, Fox K (1998) A regionally applicable model for estimating flow velocity at ungauged river sites in the UK. J Chart Inst Water Environ Manag 6:402–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer M, Boxberger N, Börnick H, Licha T, Worch E (2012) Sorption influenced transport of ionizable pharmaceuticals onto a natural sandy aquifer sediment at different pH. Chemosphere 87:513–520

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shake Flask Die-Away Test (1998) Fate, transport, and transformation test guidelines, OPPTS 835.3170; U.S. EPA, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma VK, Johnson N, Cizmas L, McDonald TJ, Kim H (2016) A review of the influence of treatment strategies on antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. Chemosphere 150:702–714

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shimizu A, Takada H, Koike T, Takeshita A, Saha M, Rinawati, Nakada N, Murata A, Suzuki T, Suzuki S, Chiem NH, Tuyen BC, Viet PH, Siringan MA, Kwan C, Zakaria MP, Reungsang A (2013) Ubiquitous occurrence of sulfonamides in tropical Asian waters. Sci Total Environ 452–453:108–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sibley SD, Pedersen JA (2008) Interaction of the macrolide antimicrobial clarithromycin with dissolved humic acid. Environ Sci Technol 42(2):422–428

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, A., (2013). User guide for the BGS DiGMapGB-50 data (V7). British Geological Survey Open Report, OR/13/008

  • Srinivasan P, Sarmah AK, Manley-Harris M (2014) Sorption of selected veterinary antibiotics onto dairy farming soils of contrasting nature. Sci Total Environ 472:695–703

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thibodeaux LJ (1996) Environmental chemodynamics, 2nd edn. Wiley-Interscience, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tixier C, Singer HP, Canonica S, Müller SR (2002) Phototransformation of triclosan in surface waters: a relevant elimination process for this widely used biocide—laboratory studies, field measurements, and modeling. Environ Sci Technol 36(16):3482–3489

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vasudevan D, Bruland GL, Torrance BS, Upchurch VG, MacKay AA (2009) pH-dependent ciprofloxacin sorption to soils: interaction mechanisms and soil factors influencing sorption. Geoderma 151:68–76

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walters E, McClellan K, Halden RU (2010) Occurrence and loss over three years of 72 pharmaceuticals and personal care products from biosolids-soil mixtures in outdoor mesocosms. Water Res 44:6011–6020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu J, Zhang Y, Zhou C, Guo C, Wang D, Du P, Luo Y, Wan J, Meng W (2014) Distribution, sources and composition of antibiotics in sediment, overlying water and pore water from Taihu Lake, China. Sci Total Environ 497–498:267–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto H, Nakamura Y, Moriguchi S, Honda Y, Tamura I, Hirata Y, Hayashi A, Sekizawa J (2009) Persistence and partitioning of eight selected pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment: laboratory photolysis, biodegradation, and sorption experiments. Water Res 43(2):351–362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zepp R, Cline D (1977) Rates of direct photolysis in aquatic environment. Environ Sci Technol 11(4):359–366

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Japanese Ministry of the Environment and DEFRA-supported UK/Japan cooperation. We thank Dr. SangJung Lee, Dr. Vimal Kumar, Dr. Masaru Ihara, and several students of the Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Kyoto University, for their assistance in the laboratory and in the fieldwork. We thank Dr. Michael J. Bowes of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology for providing water quality data. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) (25257304, 23254003, and 26257302) and funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center for Environmental Quality Management, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1-2 Yumihama, Otsu, Shiga, 520-0811, Japan

    Seiya Hanamoto, Norihide Nakada, Naoyuki Yamashita & Hiroaki Tanaka

  2. Public Works Research Institute (PWRI), 1-6 Minamihara, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8516, Japan

    Seiya Hanamoto

  3. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK

    Monika D. Jürgens & Andrew C. Johnson

Authors
  1. Seiya Hanamoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Norihide Nakada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Monika D. Jürgens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Andrew C. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Naoyuki Yamashita
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Hiroaki Tanaka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seiya Hanamoto.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Ester Heath

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 78 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hanamoto, S., Nakada, N., Jürgens, M.D. et al. The different fate of antibiotics in the Thames River, UK, and the Katsura River, Japan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 1903–1913 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0523-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0523-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation