[Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in Agricultural Environment]

Antibiotics are widely used in animal husbandry, planting, and aquaculture in agricultural industries. A large amount of the parent antibiotics used are released into the environment through discharge via feces and urine, posing potential risks to human health and ecosystems. It is thus very important to understand how antibiotics in the agricultural environment threaten the ecological environment and human health. Accordingly, risk assessment of antibiotics in the environment has become the research focus in recent years. The aim of this study was to review the risk assessment methods of antibiotics. The results showed that the ecological environment risk has mainly been assessed by the risk quotient (RQ). Predicted no-impact concentrations (PNECs) are an important indicator for ecological environment risk assessment, but a definite value is still controversial. The hazard quotient (HQ) is generally used to assess health risks. At present, it is necessary to clarify the selection of antibiotic exposure pathways and toxicological thresholds. However, neither of these two methods have currently considered either mixed pollution or the risk of antibiotic metabolites. Further analysis indicated that the ecological risks of antibiotics in the water environment and feces/manure/soil environment were widespread, which had an impact on both the soil and water environment. The types of antibiotics with high risk were different for various cultivated types. The factors including test species, testing conditions, calculation methods, and soil types all affected the detection of PNECs. Human health risk caused by dietary intake of antibiotics was minimal, but it cannot be ignored given the seafood consumption in coastal areas. Moreover, quinolones have both high ecological and human health risks in the agricultural environment. Based on the amount of antibiotics in agriculture and the residual concentration or toxicity of antibiotics in the related environment, this study proposed a priority-control list of antibiotics in the agricultural environment and summarized the main problems in the current antibiotic risk assessment. It will provide helpful support for the scientific optimization of antibiotic risk assessment and the effective control of antibiotics in agricultural environments.