Antibiotics in a seasonal ice-sealed reservoir: Occurrence, temporal variation, prioritization, and source apportionment

Antibiotics are prevalent in the aquatic environment as emerging contaminants. Their knowledge of seasonal ice-sealed reservoirs, however, is limited. The occurrence, temporal variation, and prioritization of twenty-three antibiotics in Shitoukoumen Reservoir during its ice-free and ice-sealed periods, as well as the source apportionment of the high-priority antibiotics, were investigated in this study. The results showed that florfenicol was the dominant antibiotic in Shitoukoumen Reservoir, with different median concentrations of 75.0 ± 6.5 ng L−1 and 7.0 ± 1.7 ng kg−1 in the water and ice, respectively. The concentrations of florfenicol, sulfaguanidine, and sulfamonomethoxine in the water of the reservoir water varied over time, but their monthly mass loads from inflow rivers were similar during ice-free and ice-sealed periods. This indicated that other factors, such as aquacultural practice, non-point source rain runoff, and the blocking effect of ice, determined the temporal variations of the three antibiotics and resulted in their relatively high concentrations during the ice-free period. High-priority antibiotics included erythromycin, florfenicol, ofloxacin, sarafloxacin, sulfaquinoxaline, thiamphenicol, and tylosin. Aquaculture was the primary source of high-priority antibiotics, accounting for 67.3 % and 59.4 % of the total high-priority antibiotic concentrations during ice-free and ice-sealed periods, respectively. The findings suggest that aquaculture, rain runoff, and ice blocking should all be considered as factors influencing antibiotic variations in a seasonal ice-sealed reservoir.