Suspect and Nontarget Screening of Sulfonamides and Novel Transformation Products in Pharmaceutical Wastewater-Contaminated Areas: Distribution, Migration, and Environmental Risks

High-concentration wastewater from antibiotic manufacturing plants generates significant pollutants in the receiving environment. However, the fate of antibiotics and their transformation products (TPs) in multimedia environments, as well as their environmental risks, remains limited. By utilizing comprehensive target, suspect, and nontarget screening strategies, we identified 22 sulfonamides (SAs) and 29 TPs in surface water, sediment, groundwater, and soil column samples contaminated with sulfonamide pharmaceutical wastewater. Notably, five SAs and eight TPs were first reported in environmental matrices. Acetylation and hydroxylation products were the most prevalent TPs. The cumulative (semi)quantified concentrations (SAs + TPs) were 3263-7.88 × 10⁵ ng/L in surface water, 70.5-9.41 × 10⁵ ng/g in sediments, 2.51 × 10⁴-1.29 × 10⁵ ng/L in groundwater, and not detected-2.78 × 10⁵ ng/g in soil samples. Wastewater infiltration led to the soil accumulation of contaminants below 1 m. The risk assessment modeling revealed that 58% of the screened contaminants posed medium to high ecological toxicity and antimicrobial resistance risks concurrently, indicating the need for further investigation and routine monitoring for TPs. This study provides a holistic distribution characterization of SAs and TPs in the wastewater discharge areas of the pharmaceutical factory and highlights the need for the management of pharmaceutical wastewater and environmental stewardship in key industries.