Occurrence of antibiotic residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in effluents of pharmaceutical manufacturers and other sources around Hanoi, Vietnam

Phong K Thai, Le Xuan Ky, Vu Ngan Binh, Pham Hong Nhung, Pham Thi Nhan, Ngo Quang Hieu, Nhung T T Dang, Nguyen Kieu Bang Tam, Nguyen Thi Kieu Anh

Pharmaceutical manufacturers in Vietnam are producing a wide variety of antibiotics for human and veterinary use. Consequently, the water discharged from those facilities can contain residues of antibiotics, which could have adverse impact on the environment. However, studies on the occurrence of antibiotics in the wastewater from pharmaceutical manufacturers in Vietnam are almost non-existent. In this study, water samples were collected at around the outlets of four pharmaceutical manufacturing plants as well as from a hospital and an aquaculture farm around Hanoi in 2016 and 2017. Fifteen antibiotics from four major classes (β-lactam, quinolones, macrolides, sulfonamides) were monitored, using a validated LC-MS/MS method, based on their number of registrations at the Ministry of Health. Ten antibiotics, ampicillin, cefuroxime, cefotaxime, clarithromycin, azithromycin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ofloxacin, norfloxacin, and ciprofloxacin were detected in the samples at different concentrations. Notably, sulfonamides and quinolones were occasionally detected at very high concentration, such as sulfamethoxazole (252 μg/L), trimethoprim (107 μg/L), ofloxacin (85 μg/L), and ciprofloxacin (41 μg/L). In this study, concentrations of antibiotic residues in effluent of pharmaceutical plants were higher than those from other sources. The antibiotic-resistance tests indicated the widespread resistance to common antibiotics like quinolone and sulfonamides in the collected samples. This finding suggests that wastewater from pharmaceutical manufacturers could be an important source of antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the aquatic environment of Vietnam.