Veterinary pharmaceutical contamination in mixed land use watersheds: from agricultural headwater to water monitoring watershed

Abstract

Veterinary pharmaceuticals, widely used in intensive livestock production, may contaminate surface waters. Identifying their sources and pathways in watersheds is difficult because i) most veterinary pharmaceuticals are used in human medicine as well and ii) septic or sewer wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can release pharmaceuticals into surface water, even in agricultural headwater watersheds. This study aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal variability of animal-specific, mixed-use, and human-specific pharmaceuticals, from agricultural headwaters with intensive livestock production and a WWTP to a watershed used for Water Framework Directive monitoring. Grab sampling was performed during one hydrological year upstream and downstream from a WWTP and at three dates in seven nested watersheds with areas of 1.9-84.1km. Twenty pharmaceuticals were analyzed. Animal-specific pharmaceuticals were detected at all sampling dates upstream and downstream from the WWTP and at concentrations higher than those of human-specific pharmaceuticals. The predominance of animal-specific and mixed-use pharmaceuticals vs. human-specific pharmaceuticals observed at these sampling points was confirmed at the other sampling points. Animal-specific pharmaceuticals were detected mainly during runoff events and periods of manure spreading. A large percentage of mixed-use pharmaceuticals could come from animal sources, but it was difficult to determine. Mixed-use and human-specific pharmaceuticals predominated in the largest watersheds when runoff decreased. In areas of intensive livestock production, mitigation actions should focus on agricultural headwater watersheds to decrease the number of pathways and the transfer volume of veterinary pharmaceuticals, which can be the main contaminants.

Land Use Contributions to Adverse Biological Effects in a Complex Agricultural and Urban Watershed: A Case Study of the Maumee River

“…It was expected that agricultural land use would be associated with the presence of pesticides, herbicides (Elliott et al 2017;Nowell et al 2018), and livestock-specific chemicals (i.e., growth promoters, steroids, livestock pharmaceuticals; Jaffrézic et al 2017). Biological effects from agricultural CECs include feminized sex ratios (Hoskins and Boone 2017), reductions in fecundity (Jensen et al 2006), and a reduction in species abundance and total number (Schäfer et al 2007).…”

Veterinary pharmaceutical residues in water resources and tap water in an intensive husbandry area in France

“…For example, sulfadiazine (from 508 ng/L to 2946 ng/L in this study) was quantified in surface water up to 2313 ng/L in the Llobregat River in Spain (Iglesias et al, 2014) and florfenicol (from 7 ng/L to 930 ng/L in this study) was quantified in South Korea up to 340 ng/L (Kim et al, 2016) and in China up to 930 ng/L (Zhou et al, 2016). On the other hand, sulfadiazine and trimethoprim were quantified at lower concentrations in the other study performed in Brittany (Jaffrézic et al, 2017), with sulfadiazine ranging from 15 ng/L to 35 ng/L and trimethoprim ranging from 3 ng/L to 23 ng/L. However, flunixin (from 35 to 1450 ng/L), flumequine (from 1 ng/L to 143 ng/L) and lincomycin (from 6 ng/L to 163 ng/L) concentrations were higher in Jaffrézic et al (Jaffrézic et al, 2017).…”

“…On the other hand, sulfadiazine and trimethoprim were quantified at lower concentrations in the other study performed in Brittany (Jaffrézic et al, 2017), with sulfadiazine ranging from 15 ng/L to 35 ng/L and trimethoprim ranging from 3 ng/L to 23 ng/L. However, flunixin (from 35 to 1450 ng/L), flumequine (from 1 ng/L to 143 ng/L) and lincomycin (from 6 ng/L to 163 ng/L) concentrations were higher in Jaffrézic et al (Jaffrézic et al, 2017).…”

“…A previous study performed on VPRs in waters from nested watersheds from agricultural headwater to water framework management outlet in Brittany (Jaffrézic et al, 2017) demonstrated that VPR contamination is indeed an issue, as animal-specific pharmaceuticals were detected at all sampling dates upstream and downstream from a wastewater treatment plant and at concentrations higher than those for human-specific pharmaceuticals (i.e. maximum concentrations of 181 ng.L -1 and 1450 ng.L -1 for sulfamethazine and flunixin respectively).…”

“…VPRs can then reach natural waters, i.e. surface water and groundwater, via runoff, erosion and leaching (Jaffrézic et al, 2017;Jeon et al, 2014;Kemper, 2008;Kim et al, 2011).…”