Antibiotics in ambient fine particulate matter from two metropolitan cities in China: Characterization, source apportionment, and health risk assessment

作者：Juan Liu, Qiao Yao, Wenyan Yan, Ke Fang, Rong‐Rong He, Xiaona Wang, Yu‐E Cha, Xiaoyan Yang, Wen Gu, Chao Wang, Yifu Lu, Mingyu Zhao, Yujie Ben, Kai Wang, Zhaomin Dong, Rong Zhang, Hong Chang, Song Tang · 发表于：Environment International · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.envint.2025.109340 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts、Air Quality and Health Impacts、Water Treatment and Disinfection

• For the first time, multiple antibiotics have been detected in PM 2.5 from two metropolitan cities. • Pharmaceutical factories, sewage treatment plants and livestock discharges are the main sources of antibiotics. • The concentrations of antibiotics in PM 2.5 were significantly correlated with gaseous pollutants and meteorological factors. Excessive production and widespread application of antibiotic has led to residues in environmental matrices worldwide. There is limited knowledge of the concentrations of antibiotics bound to ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and their health risks. We investigated the occurrence, sources, environmental driving factors, and health risks of antibiotics in PM 2.5 samples collected from Beijing and Shijiazhuang, China, during periods of high air pollution. Using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, 25 antibiotics were detected in PM 2.5 at concentrations ranging from undetectable to 774.7 pg/m 3 . These compounds were predominantly tetracyclines and macrolides. The positive matrix factorization model was used to pinpoint the main sources of these antibiotics as pharmaceutical and medical waste, sewage treatment plants, and livestock emissions, with contributions of 39.1 %, 31.7 %, and 29.2 % respectively, to the total concentrations. Crucial environmental driving factors were determined using a linear mixed-effects model and random forest model. Most antibiotics showed a positive correlation with gas...