Reliable Detection of Fluoroquinolones in Pharma‐effluents: Increasing Exposure in Environment Triggers Rise of Antimicrobial Resistance

Abstract The Fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics is effective till today in treating various antimicrobial infections but their continuous exposure in the environment in sublethal doses enhances the probability of the emergence of antibiotic resistance within bacterial pathogens and as a consequence efficacy of the drug gets compromised. Efforts are being made to check and develop reliable, inexpensive, and portable detection methods to trace antibiotic molecules from their initial sources to various contaminated environments. In this work, an anthraquinone naphthaldehyde conjugate (ANC) was found to be useful in the detection (LOD 6.67×10 −8 M) of ofloxacin, levofloxacin producing significant green fluorescence upon UV irradiation. The fluorescence property of ANC was utilized for the differential detection and quantification of fluoroquinolones in pharmaceutical sewage samples. This detection strategy could be beneficial for better monitoring of such contaminants and the establishment of a sustainable environment. The probe can satisfactorily enter and detect ofloxacin in both Bacillus cereus bacterial cell and HuH7 cell line.