The annual global production of seafood by aquaculture has more than tripled within the last two decades, now estimated to exceed over 83 million metric tons per year worldwide. Many reasons exist for this expansion, including adequate feed nutrition, optimized genetic lines, and increased demand for a good source of high-quality protein. Another main reason is improved control of infections, mostly by the prophylactic usage of antibiotics. Previous research has shown residual concentrations of antibiotics to be found in aquacultured seafood meant for human consumption, and speculated about the potential for antibiotic resistance to develop. However, few studies have screened for concentrations in the top consumed seafood, and for the most commonly used aquaculture antibiotics. Here, we screened for 47 of the most common antibiotics used in aquaculture, plus ones commonly used in human medicine, in 27 shrimp, salmon, catfish, trout, tilapia, and swai samples from grocery stores in the Southwestern United States. Using composite sampling and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), five antibiotics were detected (in units of ng/g fresh weight) above the limits of detection: sulfadimethoxine, ormetoprim, virginiamycin, oxytetracycline and its 4-epimer. All samples complied with U.S. regulations, although microbial risks may still present and were not assessed in this work. A literature review showed that aquaculture has been linked to resistance development, with topical reports increasing more than 8-fold from 1991-2013. Thus, although results indicate a low risk of inadvertent drug exposure from seafood consumption, risks from antibiotic resistance are increasing, constituting a research priority.

Antibiotics and aquaculture: Detected residues and microbial resistance risks

248th National Meeting (2014)

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