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Sorption and transport of sulfonamides in soils amended with wheat straw-derived biochar: effects of water pH, coexistence copper ion, and dissolved organic matter

  • Biochar for a Sustainable Environment
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Sulfonamides are widely used for the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections, hard-degraded contaminants distributed in the environment if they are discharged into the soil and water. Biochar could probably influence the geochemical behavior of ionized antibiotics in the soils.

Materials and methods

To determine the sorption/desorption of three representative sulfonamides (SAs) in soils amended with biochar, we investigated the effects of water pH, Cu2+, and dissolved humic acid on the sorption of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), sulfamethazine (SMZ), and sulfadiazine (SD) onto two different soil samples (S1 pH = 5.13 and S2 pH = 7.33) amended with wheat straw-derived biochar (size 0.5∼0.6 mm).

Results and discussion

Batch experiments showed that the sorption/desorption isotherms of SAs on soil with/without biochar followed the Freundlich model. The biochar had a strong adsorption potential for SMX, SMZ, and SD both in S1 and S2 at low water pH. Except for SMX, the presence of Cu2+ inhibited the sorption of SMZ and SD through competing hydrophobic adsorption region in soils. HA suppressed the sorption of three sulfonamides in soil S2 by electrostatic repulsion under alkaline condition. The soil leaching column experiments showed the SA transport in soils, and S1 and S2 amended with biochar (0.5 and 1.0 wt%) brought about 12–20 % increase in SMX, SMZ, and SD retention compared to the untreated soil.

Conclusions

The results indicated that the presence of biochar effectively mitigated the mobility of ionized antibiotics such as SMX, SMZ, and SD in soils, which helps us reconsider the potential risk of antibiotics in the environment.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (41272061, 41472232), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, and Open Program of State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology (GBL21404).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Zhifu Liu, Yitong Han, Ming Jing & Jiawei Chen

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  1. Zhifu Liu
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  2. Yitong Han
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  3. Ming Jing
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  4. Jiawei Chen
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Correspondence to Jiawei Chen.

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Responsible editor: Yong Sik Ok

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Liu, Z., Han, Y., Jing, M. et al. Sorption and transport of sulfonamides in soils amended with wheat straw-derived biochar: effects of water pH, coexistence copper ion, and dissolved organic matter. J Soils Sediments 17, 771–779 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1319-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1319-8

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