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Preliminary occurrence studies of antibiotic residues in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta

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Abstract

An improved liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated to investigate the occurrence of selected antibiotic residues in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta. LC and MS parameters were optimized to produce the maximum analytical responses for each compound. The established method targeted five groups of antibiotics, namely, macrolides, sulfonamides, tetracyclines, quinolones, and amphenicols. The method was validated for three types of environmental water matrices, namely, reservoir, river, and estuarine waters. Low detection limits of 0.17–0.18 ng/L for macrolides, 0.22–0.34 ng/L for quinolones, 0.67–1.65 ng/L for tetracyclines, and 0.27–0.56 ng/L for sulfonamides were obtained. No apparent interferences were observed in the chromatograms of all antibiotics groups. The developed method was preliminarily used to analyze water samples collected from Yuen Long River in New Territories, Hong Kong and four sites along the Pearl River Delta. Results showed that high level of tetracycline was found among the groups tested in the local river samples. In Pearl River Delta, we identified significant levels of erythromycin, roxithromycin, and sulfadiazine in Shenzhen Reservoir.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF Project 25/2009) and General Research Fund (201210). Technical support from Drs. Katrina Kwok and YunChun Li are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Kelvin Sze-Yin Leung, Jonathan Woon-Chung Wong & Ammaiyappan Selvam

  2. Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    Jonathan Woon-Chung Wong & Ammaiyappan Selvam

  3. Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China

    YuMei Chen & Kelvin Sze-Yin Leung

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  1. YuMei Chen
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  2. Kelvin Sze-Yin Leung
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  3. Jonathan Woon-Chung Wong
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  4. Ammaiyappan Selvam
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Correspondence to Kelvin Sze-Yin Leung or Jonathan Woon-Chung Wong.

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Chen, Y., Leung, K.SY., Wong, J.WC. et al. Preliminary occurrence studies of antibiotic residues in Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta. Environ Monit Assess 185, 745–754 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2589-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-012-2589-x

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