Physicochemical properties of antibiotics: A review with an emphasis on detection in the aquatic environment

Antibiotics have extensively been applied to rescue a great number of lives through prevention and treatment of contagious diseases and infections. They are either natural or human-made substances, which are broadly employed for promoting the health condition of human, plant, and animal. However, antibiotics are known to exert detrimental impacts on useful and nontarget microbiota of the biological system due to the overuse, continuous discharge into the environment, and subsequently aggregation in various environmental matrices. Physical and chemical properties help to evaluate whether a substance is more likely to concentrate on the terrestrial, aquatic, or atmospheric environmental matrix as well as its fate. Therefore, appropriate characterization and proper understanding of physicochemical attributes of antibiotics are indispensable to protect ecosystem health. In this paper, the antibiotic classifications and their physicochemical properties were reviewed with emphasis on detection in the aqueous environment. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Antibiotic compounds were classified in main classes, groups, and their main use. Tetracyclines, sulfonamides, aminoglycosides, macrolides, β-lactams, quinolones, polyether ionophores, and glycopeptides are the most commonly detected antibiotics in the aquatic environment. Physical-chemical properties of the main antimicrobial classes were mentioned. Physicochemical properties can change under different environmental conditions such as pH and temperature.