Occurrence and Removal of Fluoroquinolone Antibiotics in a Sewage Treatment Plant in Shanghai, China

Abstract

In this paper, the occurrence and removal of eight fluoroquinolone antibiotics were investigated at a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Shanghai, China. The most frequently detected fluoroquinolone antibiotics in the present study were norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin and lomefloxacin. The concentrations of these compounds in water samples at the STP ranged from 103 to 1786 ng L -1 , 14 to 1406 ng L -1 and 21 to 2246 ng L -1 , respectively. The other fluoroquinolone antibiotics were detected only in a few samples from the STP. FQs in aquatic phase could not be eliminated completely from the STP, with the removal efficiencies from 70% to 100%. The concentrations of FQs in water detected in summer were higher than in other seasons, due to the more desorption from sludge to aquatic phase under higher temperature.