No abstract

Context. Antibiotics contained in animal manure can contaminate arable soils and even groundwater. Systematic studies on the presence of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in soils under different fertilisation modes are urgently needed to provide ample evidence for preventing and controlling VAs pollution.Aims. This study tried to illustrate the effect of different fertilisation modes on the occurrence of soil VAs in a long-term field experiment. Methods. Soil samples were collected from a 30-year fertilisation experiment with four fertiliser application modes: (1) no fertiliser (CK); (2) chemical fertiliser (TR1); (3) cattle manure (TR2) and; (4) combination of chemical fertiliser and cattle manure (TR3). Key results. Results showed that tetracyclines and sulfonamides were ubiquitously detected in soil samples with the concentration from not detectable (ND) to 6.95 μg kg −1 and ND to 3.85 μg kg −1 , respectively, which were significantly lower than those of cattle manure (5.13-1628 μg kg −1 ). In addition, the long-term fertilisation generally improved soil properties and increased levels of VAs. The combined application of chemical fertiliser and cattle manure could significantly improve contents of soil nutrients. The correlation coefficient showed that the concentration of antibiotics and soil properties, such as soil organic matter, total nitrogen and available phosphorus, had positive correlation (P < 0.05). Conclusions. This study indicated that different fertilisation methods had significant effects on the occurrence of antibiotics in arable soil. Implications. The combination of inorganic and organic fertiliser application was a reasonable fertilisation mode to improve the soil fertility and control antibiotics contamination.