Dynamics of macrolide antimicrobials in soils

Abstract

Veterinary drugs have been widely employed in the agricultural sector to ensure animal health, allowing the improving performance of Brazil in the production and export of food of animal origin. However, the drugs are not completely metabolized, and they are excreted via urine and / or feces. Therefore, large quantities of pharmaceuticals, metabolites and / or degradation products are discharged into the environment each year and may accumulate in soil and plants, as well as be transported to water bodies. As the soil is an important route of entry of drugs into the environment, it is necessary to understand its dynamics, since compounds with high sorption capacity tend to accumulate in soils and sediments, and those with low sorption capacity will be leached and may contaminate water groundwater, surface water and even drinking water. In the case of antimicrobial, an additional concern is the selection of resistant bacteria, resulting in an increasing difficulty in treating the diseases caused by them. Currently, very little is known about the dynamics of these compounds, especially in tropical environments, since most research are originating from temperate countries. This information is needed for environmental risk assessments and the development of technologies capable of removing and / or treating drug residues in the environment. Therefore, this research project aims to conduct a data collection of information on marketing, employment and dosage of veterinary antimicrobial agents of the class of macrolides, the development and validation of methods for the determination in environmental matrices, as well as evaluating the processes of adsorption / desorption of these compounds and its natural degradation products in characteristic soils of the state of São Paulo.