The effects of elevated residual concentrations of tetracycline antibiotics in the environment through agricultural waste, as a fertilizer, is causing bacteria to develop antibiotic resistance (AR). In this research, we have attempted to design an analytical method to isolate antibiotics from swine waste using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography with photodiode array (HPLC-PDA) detection. By mixing the agricultural samples with methanol, the antibiotics are extracted into an aqueous phase and filtered. A polymeric weak cation cartridge is then used to concentrate the antibiotics and separate the unwanted organic compounds found in the sample. The antibiotics are released and analyzed using LC-MS. The concentration of different antibiotics and metabolites have been found at relatively high concentrations. The high concentrations of these antibiotics may pose a human health threat since the spread of the antibiotics would mean that the AR bacteria may also be spreading.

Environmental extraction and quantitation of tetracycline antibiotics and their metabolites in agricultural wates using SPE, HPLC-MS, and HPLC-PDA

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.