Environmental Assessment of Tetracycline’s Residues Detected in Pig Slurry and Poultry Manure

Abstract

The widespread use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry has led to an increase in concentrations of antibiotics in animal faeces. Furthermore, the spreading of this waste as fertilizer on agricultural land indirectly introduces antimicrobial residues into the environment. This study examined samples of pig slurry and poultry manure for three tetracyclines—oxytetracycline (OTC), chlortetracycline (CTC) and doxycycline (DOC) and conducted an environmental evaluation of soils. The samples were taken from manure heaps on eight broiler chicken farms and from slurry ponds on eight pig farms. The tetracycline analysis was conducted using high-performance liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS). The risk assessment was carried out on the basis of the estimated PECsoil value and the ecotoxicological information available for terrestrial organisms. TC concentrations were between >0.01 and 1.38 mg/kg. OCT was detected in 37% of the poultry manure and in 20% of the pig slurry samples. DOC was present in 50% of pig slurry samples with an average concentration of 1.2 mg/kg, while CTC was only found in one slurry sample at a concentration of 0.56 mg/kg. Compared with published values for these two farm animals from other countries, the TC concentrations obtained in this study were low. The environmental importance of the data generated was also discussed.