Occurrence of antibiotics residues in hospital wastewater, wastewater treatment plant, and in surface water in Nairobi County, Kenya

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 192; no. 1; p. 18
• Main Authors: Ngigi, Anastasiah N., Magu, Martin M., Muendo, Boniface M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.01.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aminoglycosides; Ampicillin; Anions; Anti-Bacterial Agents - analysis; Antibiotics; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Chromatography, Liquid; Drug resistance; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Effluents; Environment; Environmental effects; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Fresh Water - chemistry; Hospital wastes; Hospitals; Kenya; Macrolides; Medical wastes; Medicine; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Multimedia; Oxacillin; Pollution control; Residues; Rivers; Speciation; Spectinomycin; Sulfadiazine; Sulfamethazine; Sulfamethoxazole; Sulfanilamide; Sulfonamides; Surface water; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Trimethoprim; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Waste Water - chemistry; Wastewater treatment; Wastewater treatment plants; Water; Water analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water sampling; β-Lactam antibiotics; Kenya; Residues; Antibiotics; Wastewater; Speciation; Surface water
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-019-7952-8

The occurrence of 17 antibiotics belonging to sulfonamides, β-lactams, macrolides and aminoglycosides classes, and trimethoprim in raw hospital wastewater, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), and surface water was determined. Residual antibiotics were quantified by LC/MS/MS. Residues of antibiotics in hospital wastewater were 3–10 times higher than that detected in WWTP and surface water. Trimethoprim, spectinomycin, ampicillin, and oxacillin were detected in all the sampled water. Sulfamethoxazole was detected at the highest concentration of 20.6, 7.8, and 6.8 μg L −1 in hospital wastewater, WWTP and in surface water, respectively. Other detected sulfonamides were sulfamethazine, sulfadiazine, and sulfanilamide at a concentration range of 0.4–15.7 μg L −1 . Detected trimethoprim ranged from 0.4–6.6 μg L −1 , the rest of the detected antibiotics were up to 1.0 μg L −1 . The speciation of the sulfonamides at pH values relevant to sampled water was evaluated by use of pKa values. These compounds existed largely as anionic and neutral species indicating high mobility as these speciation forms are less sorbed in environmental matrices. Continuous monitoring of antibiotics residues in wastewater, surface water, and other environmental matrices is very important due to their adverse health and environmental effects. The information is useful in designing strategies for antibiotics pollution control and also in policy formulation.