A qualitative survey of five antibiotics in influent and effluent of a wastewater treatment plant in central plateau of Iran

This study aimed to survey a total five common human and veterinary antibiotics, including ampicillin, oxytetracycline, enrofloxacin, tylosin, and ciprofloxacin based on SPE-LC-MS-MS technology in a wastewater treatment plant at central plateau of Iran. Also two sampling techniques, passive and grab samplings were compared in the detection of selected antibiotics. In February to April 2012, grab and passive samples were taken from the influent and effluent of a wastewater treatment plant. The samples were prepared using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the extracts were analyzed through liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) with electrospray ionization in positive ionization mode. The results showed that enrofloxacin, oxytetracycline, and tylosin were not detected in none of the samples. However, ampicillin and ciprofloxacin were detected in the grab and passive samples taken from the influent and treated effluent of the plant. Because lack of recovery and matrix effect data, and some technical and economical limitations, the presence of the antibiotics was reported qualitatively. The results imply that passive and grab sampling techniques have similar efficiency in the detection of antibiotics in influent and effluent of the wastewater treatment plant. The presence of ampicillin and ciprofloxacin in raw municipal wastewater entered to the plant and treated effluent may lead to potential emergence of resistant bacteria that should be considered in future studies.