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Background <p>The extensive use of antibiotics in both human and veterinary medicine has resulted in their release into terrestrial and aquatic environments, raising concerns about ecological impacts and antimicrobial resistance. This study assesses the ecotoxicity and environmental risk of eight widely used antibiotics: amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, streptomycin, and tetracycline. Acute toxicity tests were conducted using five bioindicators spanning different trophic levels and environmental compartments: <i>Aliivibrio fischeri</i>, <i>Daphnia magna</i>, <i>Desmodesmus subspicatus</i>, <i>Eisenia fetida</i>, and <i>Allium cepa</i>. EC₅₀ values were experimentally determined or sourced from literature to calculate predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) and hazard quotients (HQs) for water and soil.</p> Results <p>Toxicity varied considerably among species. <i>A. fischeri</i> was most sensitive to penicillin, while <i>D. magna</i> showed highest sensitivity to chloramphenicol. In <i>A. cepa</i>, amoxicillin and gentamicin elicited the strongest phytotoxic responses. <i>E. fetida</i> exhibited no mortality at concentrations below 1000&#xa0;mg/kg. HQ-based risk assessment identified erythromycin, tetracycline, and amoxicillin as posing the greatest environmental risks, with HQ &gt; 1 in both acute and chronic scenarios. Ampicillin consistently showed the lowest risk.</p> <p>Redundancy analysis indicated that the number of rotatable bonds was the most significant physicochemical predictor of EC₅₀ values across species. This suggests that molecular flexibility, associated with structural promiscuity, may increase the potential for off-target interactions.</p> Conclusions <p>Overall, the study underscores the environmental risks posed by common antibiotics and highlights the relevance of molecular structure in predicting ecotoxicity. These insights support the development of targeted environmental management and regulatory frameworks.</p> <p>The apparent dissociation between the relatively low toxicity observed in individual non-target organisms and the high environmental risk estimated for these compounds reveals that the true threat of antibiotics lies in their silent yet persistent erosion of ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and ecological functions. These findings emphasize the need to consider sublethal and community-level effects in environmental risk assessments.</p>

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Ecotoxicity and risk assessment of eight common antibiotics using soil and aquatic bioindicators

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月18日

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  • Cristina Gan,
  • María Rosa Pino-Otín,
  • Beatriz Ranera,
  • Diego Ballestero,
  • Elisa Langa

摘要

Background

The extensive use of antibiotics in both human and veterinary medicine has resulted in their release into terrestrial and aquatic environments, raising concerns about ecological impacts and antimicrobial resistance. This study assesses the ecotoxicity and environmental risk of eight widely used antibiotics: amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin, erythromycin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, streptomycin, and tetracycline. Acute toxicity tests were conducted using five bioindicators spanning different trophic levels and environmental compartments: Aliivibrio fischeri, Daphnia magna, Desmodesmus subspicatus, Eisenia fetida, and Allium cepa. EC₅₀ values were experimentally determined or sourced from literature to calculate predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) and hazard quotients (HQs) for water and soil.

Results

Toxicity varied considerably among species. A. fischeri was most sensitive to penicillin, while D. magna showed highest sensitivity to chloramphenicol. In A. cepa, amoxicillin and gentamicin elicited the strongest phytotoxic responses. E. fetida exhibited no mortality at concentrations below 1000 mg/kg. HQ-based risk assessment identified erythromycin, tetracycline, and amoxicillin as posing the greatest environmental risks, with HQ > 1 in both acute and chronic scenarios. Ampicillin consistently showed the lowest risk.

Redundancy analysis indicated that the number of rotatable bonds was the most significant physicochemical predictor of EC₅₀ values across species. This suggests that molecular flexibility, associated with structural promiscuity, may increase the potential for off-target interactions.

Conclusions

Overall, the study underscores the environmental risks posed by common antibiotics and highlights the relevance of molecular structure in predicting ecotoxicity. These insights support the development of targeted environmental management and regulatory frameworks.

The apparent dissociation between the relatively low toxicity observed in individual non-target organisms and the high environmental risk estimated for these compounds reveals that the true threat of antibiotics lies in their silent yet persistent erosion of ecosystem resilience, biodiversity, and ecological functions. These findings emphasize the need to consider sublethal and community-level effects in environmental risk assessments.