Veterinary antibiotics contaminate plants through manure, irrigation, and atmospheric interaction. The present study was conducted to estimate the half-life of three veterinary antibiotics, chlortetracycline (CTC), enrofloxacin (ENR), and sulfathiazol...
Veterinary antibiotics contaminate plants through manure, irrigation, and atmospheric interaction. The present study was conducted to estimate the half-life of three veterinary antibiotics, chlortetracycline (CTC), enrofloxacin (ENR), and sulfathiazole (STZ), in soil and experimentally explore their uptake from contaminated soil to radish roots and leaves. Samples were extracted using a modified citrate-buffered version of the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe “QuEChERS” method followed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometric analysis (LC-MS/MS) in positive ion mode. Good linearity was observed for the three tested antibiotics in soil and plants (roots and leaves) with high determination coefficients (R2 34 ≥ 0.9922). The average recovery rates at two spiking levels with three replicates per level ranged between 77.1 and 114.8%, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) ≤ 19.9% for all tested matrices. In a batch incubation experiment (in vitro study), the half-lives of CTC, ENR, and STZ ranged from 2.0- 6.1, 2.2-4.5, and 1.1-2.2 days, respectively. Under greenhouse conditions, the half-lives of the three target antibiotics in soil with and without radishes were 2.5-6.9 and 2.7-7.4; 4.7-16.7 and 10.3-14.6; and 4.4-4.9 and 2.5-2.8 days, respectively. Trace amounts of the target antibiotics (CTC, ENR, and STZ) were taken up from soil via roots and entered leaves of radishes. The concentration of CTC was lower than 2.73%, ENR was 0.08-3.90%, and less than 1.64% STZ was absorbed. In conclusion, the concentrations of the tested antibiotics decreased with time and consequently lower residues were observed in radishes. The rapid degradation of the tested antibiotics in the present study probably might have a little impact on soil microorganisms, fauna, and plants.