Assessment of the Sulfamethoxazole mobility in natural soils and of the risk of contamination of water resources at the catchment scale

Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is one of the antibiotics most commonly detected in aquatic and terrestrial environments and is still widely used, especially in low income countries. SMX is assumed to be highly mobile in soils due to its intrinsic molecular properties. Ten soils with contrasting properties a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environment international Vol. 130; p. 104905
Main Authors:	Archundia, D., Duwig, C., Spadini, L., Morel, M.C., Prado, B., Perez, M.P., Orsag, V., Martins, J.M.F.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2019 Elsevier
Subjects:	Antibiotic mobility Continental interfaces, environment Fresh Water - chemistry HYDRUS-1D Pollution risk Rate-limited sorption Reactive transport Risk Assessment - methods Sciences of the Universe Soil Pollutants - analysis Sulfamethoxazole - analysis Water Pollution - analysis Water Pollution - prevention & control Water Resources HYDRUS-1D Reactive transport Antibiotic mobility Pollution risk Rate-limited sorption pollution risk rate-limited reactive transport
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Summary:	Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) is one of the antibiotics most commonly detected in aquatic and terrestrial environments and is still widely used, especially in low income countries. SMX is assumed to be highly mobile in soils due to its intrinsic molecular properties. Ten soils with contrasting properties and representative of the catchment soil types and land uses were collected throughout the watershed, which undergoes very rapid urban development. SMX displacement experiments were carried out in repacked columns of the 10 soils to explore SMX reactive transfer (mobility and reactivity) in order to assess the contamination risk of water resources in the context of the Bolivian Altiplano. Relevant sorption processes were identified by modelling (HYDRUS-1D) considering different sorption concepts. SMX mobility was best simulated when considering irreversible sorption as well as instantaneous and rate-limited reversible sorption, depending on the soil type. SMX mobility appeared lower in soils located upstream of the watershed (organic and acidic soils - Regosol) in relation with a higher adsorption capacity compared to the soils located downstream (lower organic carbon content - Cambisol). By combining soil column experiments and soil profiles description, this study suggests that SMX can be classified as a moderately to highly mobile compound in the studied watershed, depending principally on soil properties such as pH and OC. Potential risks of surface and groundwater pollution by SMX were thus identified in the lower part of the studied catchment, threatening Lake Titicaca water quality. [Display omitted] •A chemical non-equilibrium sorption process was involved in SMX transport.•Organic and acidic soils showed a higher SMX sorption capacity.•Mobility of SMX was related with pH-dependent speciation.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0160-4120 1873-6750
DOI:	10.1016/j.envint.2019.104905