Depth Distribution of Sulfonamide Antibiotics in Pore Water of an Undisturbed Loamy Grassland Soil

Abstract

Despite the concern raised by the detections of veterinary antibiotics like sulfonamides (SA) in the environment, their fate in soils is still not sufficiently understood. In a previous article, we demonstrated that manure may substantially influence losses of SA via runoff from soils. Here, we report on the effect of manure on SA availability in soil pore water. Three sulfonamides (sulfadimidine, sulfadiazine, sulfathiazole) and two tracers (bromide and Brilliant Blue) were either applied in manure or as aqueous solution on grassland plots. After 1 and 3 d contact time, the plots were irrigated with deionized water. One day after irrigation, soil cores were taken and profiles of pore water concentrations were determined. The median SA concentrations of the top layer on manured plots varied between 40 and 60 microg L(-1) and between 10 and 30 microg L(-1) on the controls. For the conservative tracer Br the mass recovery was about 60 to 75% and much lower for the SA (2 to 14%). Apparent distribution coefficients K(d,app) of the SA in the topsoil ranged between 3 and 15 L kg(-1) on the manured plots and between 30 to 35 kg L(-1) on the controls. Below the top layer, the concentration distribution showed a pattern typical for preferential flow. Locally, SA concentrations down to 30- to 50-cm depth were as high as in the top 5 cm with little effect of the two application matrices. In the topmost layer, the data indicate that 10 to 25% of sulfadimidine were transformed to its acetyl-metabolite.

Sulfonamides Leach from Sandy Loam Soils Under Common Agricultural Practice

“…This is consistent with the determined transport of mobile fractions of sulfonamides into deeper soil layers in manure-fertilised soils in laboratory and field studies (e.g. Burkhardt and Stamm 2007;Hamscher et al 2005;Kay et al 2005a, b). Moreover, freshwater contamination was indicated by findings of sulfonamides in groundwater below and surface waters close to agricultural areas at concentrations ranging from 0.01 µg L −1 to 3.3 mg L −1 (e.g.…”

“…The highest losses in plot and lysimeter experiments were determined in loam, clayey and bedrock soil compared to sandy soils, which was attributed to preferential flow (e.g. Burkhardt and Stamm 2007;Höper et al 2007;Groeneweg et al 2007). Effects of precipitation were investigated by Blackwell et al (2009), who reported that the maximum leachate concentration of sulfachloropyridazine was increased from 0.66 to 8.5 µg L −1 after the rate of irrigation was increased by a factor of 2.…”

“…Furthermore, the sulfonamide movement in grassland soils was described to be larger compared to agricultural fields, which suggests an effect of tillage and plants coverage of the soil surface on leaching of sulfonamides (e.g. Burkhardt and Stamm 2007). However, the medium-term effects of repeated applications of sulfonamide-loaded liquid manure on leaching of sulfonamides from soils under agricultural practice were not studied so far.…”

Assessing the sorption and leaching behaviour of three sulfonamides in pasture soils through batch and column studies

“…A plausible explanation for not detecting SM in samples collected from the column at any depth could be a limitation of our analytical method, and/or is a result of inefficient extraction method to extract SM from the soil samples using DCM (Srinivasan et al, 2012). Burkhardt and Stamm (2007) reported the depth distribution of three sulfonamides applied to a loamy grassland soil; with levels of antibiotic concentrations at 30-50 cm depth being equal to the concentration found in the top 5 cm regardless of whether application of antibiotics was in manure or in aqueous solution. In the current study for both soils, the antibiotic concentration profile decreased with depth, indicating that possible preferential flow through cracks, or worm holes did not occur.…”

Occurrence and distribution of antibiotics in urban soil in Beijing and Shanghai, China

“…Some antibiotics can be biodegraded within a few days in soil (Burkhardt and Stamm 2007;Kotzerke et al 2008), while some other antibiotics can be persistent in soil with the half-life time of several months (Marengo et al 1997;Rosendahl et al 2012). The antibiotics, such as tetracyclines and quinolones (QNs), exhibit high adsorption properties to accumulate in soil on the surface of either mineral or organic soil constituents (Tolls 2001).…”