Effects of pharmaceuticals on the nitrogen cycle in water and soil: a review

Abstract

The effects of pharmaceuticals on the nitrogen cycle in water and soil have recently become an increasingly important issue for environmental research. However, a few studies have investigated the direct effects of pharmaceuticals on the nitrogen cycle in water and soil. Pharmaceuticals can contribute to inhibition and stimulation of nitrogen cycle processes in the environment. Some pharmaceuticals have no observable effect on the nitrogen cycle in water and soil while others appeared to inhibit or stimulate for it. This review reports on the most recent evidence of effects of pharmaceuticals on the nitrogen cycle processes by examination of the potential impact of pharmaceuticals on nitrogen fixation, nitrification, ammonification, denitrification, and anammox. Research studies have identified pharmaceuticals that can either inhibit or stimulate nitrification, ammonification, denitrification, and anammox. Among these, amoxicillin, chlortetracycline, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, narasin, norfloxacin, and sulfamethazine had the most significant effects on nitrogen cycle processes. This review also clearly demonstrates that some nitrogen transformation processes such as nitrification show much higher sensitivity to the presence of pharmaceuticals than other nitrogen transformations or flows such as mineralization or ammonia volatilization. We conclude by suggesting that future studies take a more comprehensive approach to report on pharmaceuticals’ impact on the nitrogen cycle process.

Ecological Responses of Maize Rhizosphere to Antibiotics Entering the Agricultural System in an Area with High Arsenicals Geological Background

“…The higher concentrations of ammonium nitrogen and lower concentrations of nitrate nitrogen in rhizosphere soil with antibiotic treatments were consistent with the inhibition effects of denitrification rates (defined as nitrate and nitrite reductase activities in this study). This was similar to the results that nitrogen cycling, such as nitrification and anammox, appeared to be less sensitive to antibiotic exposure (sensitivity at therapeutic concentrations) than denitrification [ 34 , 35 ]. Plant roots can interact with soil microorganisms to influence nutrient availability and uptake, which can in turn promote plant growth [ 32 ].…”

Plant Nitrogen Metabolism: Balancing Resilience to Nutritional Stress and Abiotic Challenges

“…Anammox helps in nitrogen fixation. These bacteria have five different types but they are sensitive to abiotic stress and are also affected by the pollutants like that of pharmaceuticals [195]. Nitrogen assimilation is also disturbed by Cd toxicity so the foliar application of Alpha lipoic acid (Tomato plant) limits the cadmium uptake and enhances the nitrogen assimilation [196].…”

Rhodococcus strains as a good biotool for neutralizing pharmaceutical pollutants and obtaining therapeutically valuable products: Through the past into the future

“…Also, it is crucial to understand how pharmaceutical pollutants affect rhodococci and other microbes, which are a natural system of “primary response” to xenobiotic load in open ecosystems. For instance, the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in aquatic or soil ecosystems may lead to reduced biodiversity, changes in biomass composition, biochemical reactions, metabolic and enzymatic activity of a microbiological community, to the suppression of local (native) species and, finally, to the transformation of key ecological processes by synergistic and additive effects of other ecotoxicants and their metabolites ( Rosi-Marshall et al, 2013 ; Aguilar-Romero et al, 2020 ; Gomes et al, 2020 ; Crampon et al, 2021 ; McLain et al, 2022 ; Pashaei et al, 2022 ).…”