{"id":{"repo_id":"aachen","oai_identifier":"oai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:52002"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/aachen/oai:publications.rwth-aachen.de:52002","repository":{"repo_id":"aachen","name":"RWTH Aachen University","base_url":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/oai2d"},"display":{"title":"Comparison of the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and biocides in water and soil systems","abstract":"The fate of organic chemicals in the environment is determined by both abiotic and biological processes and microbial degradation of chemicals is a key parameter for their environmental risk assessment. The majority of chemicals have been tested for ready biodegradability in aqueous systems (e.g. OECD 301/310 test) for regulatory purposes, whereas only few data exist for other environmental systems such as soil. This lack of data is mainly due to the high cost and complexity of the necessary simulation tests. Thus, it would be advantageous to extrapolate the biodegradability potential of chemicals from aqueous medium to soil. Hence, we compared the fate of different environmentally relevant chemicals. The worldwide most applied herbicide, 2,4-D, and two environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin were analysed as model compounds for their turnover in water and soil systems. Isotope labelled compounds (13C, 14C) were incubated in mineral medium (OECD test 301) and in an agricultural soil (OECD test 307). The results revealed the processes responsible for compound biodegradation including biotic and abiotic processes. The carbon redistribution into mineralisation, biomass and non-extractable residues (NER) formation during degradation was traced, allowing to establish a quantitative relationship between the degradation in the two systems. Moreover, to elucidate the potential effects of these compounds on the environment, those compounds that proved to be toxic to activated sludge microbial communities, were also tested for their toxicity towards soil microorganisms. In the aqueous system, 85% of the initially applied 14C6-2,4-D and 68% of the 13C6-ibuprofen were mineralised within 28 days, indicating ready biodegradability. In soil, only 57% of 2,4-D and 45% of ibuprofen were mineralised. Parent compounds and metabolites decreased to < 2 % of the spiked amounts. In soil, 37% of the initially applied labelled 2,4-D and 30% of ibuprofen were recovered as NER, mainly in the form of biomolecules, e.g. amino acids and phospholoipid fatty acids. In contrast, ciprofloxacin was recalcitrant to degradation and transformation in water systems. In soil, however, a low but significant mineralisation was observed. The lower bioavailability of antibiotics in soil seems to reduce the compound’s toxicity allowing its biodegradation. NER formation from ciprofloxacin was fast and independent of the microbial activity. Overall, the data suggest that NER formation from abiotic processes (e.g. sequestration of parent compounds) and from biogenic residues are competitive processes in soil. Whereas based on their ready biodegradability and the high contribution of biomass residues to NER formation, 2,4-D and ibuprofen obviously are not hazardous for the environment; the data clearly demonstrated that ciprofloxacin is persistent, and strongly inhibits the microbial activity in the environment, e.g. activated sludge and soil bacterial communities. Thus, this compound is a hazardous pollutant for the environment and the ecosystem, and consequently much more attention needs to be given to contamination of soil by antibiotics, which often has been neglected. In order to generate consistent data and provide a validated assessment of the environmental risk of a chemical, biodegradation tests in soil using compounds isotopically labelled in the most stable(s) position(s) of the molecule should be performed. In addition, the generally accepted concept of NER and the methodology for their determination need to be revised with respect to distinguishing the non-biogenic (potentially hazardous) and the biogenic (harmless) NER. Nevertheless, simulation tests cannot always be implemented. For these cases some general rules for extrapolating results from water-based ready biodegradability tests to the biodegradation in soil systems can be deduced from the results of this study: i) mineralisation is higher in water than in soil for readily biodegradedable and non-toxic compounds, ii) for compounds which are highly toxic towards microorganisms, the mineralisation and metabolisation is higher in soil systems because the reduced bioavailability in soil reduces their toxicity iii) lipophilic compounds tend to form NER and are less biodegraded in soil than in aqueous systems, iv) compound elimination with low mineralisation indicates formation of potentially hazardous NER, and v) high mineralisation accompanied by microbial biomass growth generally results in the formation of non-hazardous biogenic NER.","abstract_html":"The fate of organic chemicals in the environment is determined by both abiotic and biological processes and microbial degradation of chemicals is a key parameter for their environmental risk assessment. The majority of chemicals have been tested for ready biodegradability in aqueous systems (e.g. OECD 301/310 test) for regulatory purposes, whereas only few data exist for other environmental systems such as soil. This lack of data is mainly due to the high cost and complexity of the necessary simulation tests. Thus, it would be advantageous to extrapolate the biodegradability potential of chemicals from aqueous medium to soil. Hence, we compared the fate of different environmentally relevant chemicals. The worldwide most applied herbicide, 2,4-D, and two environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin were analysed as model compounds for their turnover in water and soil systems. Isotope labelled compounds (13C, 14C) were incubated in mineral medium (OECD test 301) and in an agricultural soil (OECD test 307). The results revealed the processes responsible for compound biodegradation including biotic and abiotic processes. The carbon redistribution into mineralisation, biomass and non-extractable residues (NER) formation during degradation was traced, allowing to establish a quantitative relationship between the degradation in the two systems. Moreover, to elucidate the potential effects of these compounds on the environment, those compounds that proved to be toxic to activated sludge microbial communities, were also tested for their toxicity towards soil microorganisms. In the aqueous system, 85% of the initially applied 14C6-2,4-D and 68% of the 13C6-ibuprofen were mineralised within 28 days, indicating ready biodegradability. In soil, only 57% of 2,4-D and 45% of ibuprofen were mineralised. Parent compounds and metabolites decreased to &lt; 2 % of the spiked amounts. In soil, 37% of the initially applied labelled 2,4-D and 30% of ibuprofen were recovered as NER, mainly in the form of biomolecules, e.g. amino acids and phospholoipid fatty acids. In contrast, ciprofloxacin was recalcitrant to degradation and transformation in water systems. In soil, however, a low but significant mineralisation was observed. The lower bioavailability of antibiotics in soil seems to reduce the compound’s toxicity allowing its biodegradation. NER formation from ciprofloxacin was fast and independent of the microbial activity. Overall, the data suggest that NER formation from abiotic processes (e.g. sequestration of parent compounds) and from biogenic residues are competitive processes in soil. Whereas based on their ready biodegradability and the high contribution of biomass residues to NER formation, 2,4-D and ibuprofen obviously are not hazardous for the environment; the data clearly demonstrated that ciprofloxacin is persistent, and strongly inhibits the microbial activity in the environment, e.g. activated sludge and soil bacterial communities. Thus, this compound is a hazardous pollutant for the environment and the ecosystem, and consequently much more attention needs to be given to contamination of soil by antibiotics, which often has been neglected. In order to generate consistent data and provide a validated assessment of the environmental risk of a chemical, biodegradation tests in soil using compounds isotopically labelled in the most stable(s) position(s) of the molecule should be performed. In addition, the generally accepted concept of NER and the methodology for their determination need to be revised with respect to distinguishing the non-biogenic (potentially hazardous) and the biogenic (harmless) NER. Nevertheless, simulation tests cannot always be implemented. For these cases some general rules for extrapolating results from water-based ready biodegradability tests to the biodegradation in soil systems can be deduced from the results of this study: i) mineralisation is higher in water than in soil for readily biodegradedable and non-toxic compounds, ii) for compounds which are highly toxic towards microorganisms, the mineralisation and metabolisation is higher in soil systems because the reduced bioavailability in soil reduces their toxicity iii) lipophilic compounds tend to form NER and are less biodegraded in soil than in aqueous systems, iv) compound elimination with low mineralisation indicates formation of potentially hazardous NER, and v) high mineralisation accompanied by microbial biomass growth generally results in the formation of non-hazardous biogenic NER.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Girardi Lavin, Cristobal"],"institution":"Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Schäffer, Andreas"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011","date_published":"2011","updated_at":"2026-07-30T19:40:50Z","subjects":["info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/570","Biologischer Abbau","Risikoanalyse","Boden","Umweltchemikalie","Wasser","Biowissenschaften, Biologie","biodegradation","risk assessment","chemicals","soil","water"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-114247%22"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-114247%22","href":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-114247%22","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/52002","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"source_record":{"url":"https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/oai2d?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=oai%3Apublications.rwth-aachen.de%3A52002","prefix":"oai_dc"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Schäffer, Andreas"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Girardi Lavin, Cristobal"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:coverage","label":"Dc Coverage","values":["DE"]},{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2011"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:de:hbz:82-opus-38054","info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1860-0387"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis","info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/570","Biologischer Abbau","Risikoanalyse","Boden","Umweltchemikalie","Wasser","Biowissenschaften, Biologie","biodegradation","risk assessment","chemicals","soil","water"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/52002","https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-114247%22"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["The fate of organic chemicals in the environment is determined by both abiotic and biological processes and microbial degradation of chemicals is a key parameter for their environmental risk assessment. The majority of chemicals have been tested for ready biodegradability in aqueous systems (e.g. OECD 301/310 test) for regulatory purposes, whereas only few data exist for other environmental systems such as soil. This lack of data is mainly due to the high cost and complexity of the necessary simulation tests. Thus, it would be advantageous to extrapolate the biodegradability potential of chemicals from aqueous medium to soil. Hence, we compared the fate of different environmentally relevant chemicals. The worldwide most applied herbicide, 2,4-D, and two environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin were analysed as model compounds for their turnover in water and soil systems. Isotope labelled compounds (13C, 14C) were incubated in mineral medium (OECD test 301) and in an agricultural soil (OECD test 307). The results revealed the processes responsible for compound biodegradation including biotic and abiotic processes. The carbon redistribution into mineralisation, biomass and non-extractable residues (NER) formation during degradation was traced, allowing to establish a quantitative relationship between the degradation in the two systems. Moreover, to elucidate the potential effects of these compounds on the environment, those compounds that proved to be toxic to activated sludge microbial communities, were also tested for their toxicity towards soil microorganisms. In the aqueous system, 85% of the initially applied 14C6-2,4-D and 68% of the 13C6-ibuprofen were mineralised within 28 days, indicating ready biodegradability. In soil, only 57% of 2,4-D and 45% of ibuprofen were mineralised. Parent compounds and metabolites decreased to < 2 % of the spiked amounts. In soil, 37% of the initially applied labelled 2,4-D and 30% of ibuprofen were recovered as NER, mainly in the form of biomolecules, e.g. amino acids and phospholoipid fatty acids. In contrast, ciprofloxacin was recalcitrant to degradation and transformation in water systems. In soil, however, a low but significant mineralisation was observed. The lower bioavailability of antibiotics in soil seems to reduce the compound’s toxicity allowing its biodegradation. NER formation from ciprofloxacin was fast and independent of the microbial activity. Overall, the data suggest that NER formation from abiotic processes (e.g. sequestration of parent compounds) and from biogenic residues are competitive processes in soil. Whereas based on their ready biodegradability and the high contribution of biomass residues to NER formation, 2,4-D and ibuprofen obviously are not hazardous for the environment; the data clearly demonstrated that ciprofloxacin is persistent, and strongly inhibits the microbial activity in the environment, e.g. activated sludge and soil bacterial communities. Thus, this compound is a hazardous pollutant for the environment and the ecosystem, and consequently much more attention needs to be given to contamination of soil by antibiotics, which often has been neglected. In order to generate consistent data and provide a validated assessment of the environmental risk of a chemical, biodegradation tests in soil using compounds isotopically labelled in the most stable(s) position(s) of the molecule should be performed. In addition, the generally accepted concept of NER and the methodology for their determination need to be revised with respect to distinguishing the non-biogenic (potentially hazardous) and the biogenic (harmless) NER. Nevertheless, simulation tests cannot always be implemented. For these cases some general rules for extrapolating results from water-based ready biodegradability tests to the biodegradation in soil systems can be deduced from the results of this study: i) mineralisation is higher in water than in soil for readily biodegradedable and non-toxic compounds, ii) for compounds which are highly toxic towards microorganisms, the mineralisation and metabolisation is higher in soil systems because the reduced bioavailability in soil reduces their toxicity iii) lipophilic compounds tend to form NER and are less biodegraded in soil than in aqueous systems, iv) compound elimination with low mineralisation indicates formation of potentially hazardous NER, and v) high mineralisation accompanied by microbial biomass growth generally results in the formation of non-hazardous biogenic NER."]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Leipzig : Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ, Dissertation / Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, UFZ 2011,13 XII, 130 S. : Ill., graph. Darst. (2011). = Zugl.: Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2011"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Comparison of the biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and biocides in water and soil systems"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Schäffer, Andreas"],"dc:coverage":["DE"],"dc:creator":["Girardi Lavin, Cristobal"],"dc:date":["2011"],"dc:description":["The fate of organic chemicals in the environment is determined by both abiotic and biological processes and microbial degradation of chemicals is a key parameter for their environmental risk assessment. The majority of chemicals have been tested for ready biodegradability in aqueous systems (e.g. OECD 301/310 test) for regulatory purposes, whereas only few data exist for other environmental systems such as soil. This lack of data is mainly due to the high cost and complexity of the necessary simulation tests. Thus, it would be advantageous to extrapolate the biodegradability potential of chemicals from aqueous medium to soil. Hence, we compared the fate of different environmentally relevant chemicals. The worldwide most applied herbicide, 2,4-D, and two environmentally relevant pharmaceuticals, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ibuprofen and the antibiotic ciprofloxacin were analysed as model compounds for their turnover in water and soil systems. Isotope labelled compounds (13C, 14C) were incubated in mineral medium (OECD test 301) and in an agricultural soil (OECD test 307). The results revealed the processes responsible for compound biodegradation including biotic and abiotic processes. The carbon redistribution into mineralisation, biomass and non-extractable residues (NER) formation during degradation was traced, allowing to establish a quantitative relationship between the degradation in the two systems. Moreover, to elucidate the potential effects of these compounds on the environment, those compounds that proved to be toxic to activated sludge microbial communities, were also tested for their toxicity towards soil microorganisms. In the aqueous system, 85% of the initially applied 14C6-2,4-D and 68% of the 13C6-ibuprofen were mineralised within 28 days, indicating ready biodegradability. In soil, only 57% of 2,4-D and 45% of ibuprofen were mineralised. Parent compounds and metabolites decreased to < 2 % of the spiked amounts. In soil, 37% of the initially applied labelled 2,4-D and 30% of ibuprofen were recovered as NER, mainly in the form of biomolecules, e.g. amino acids and phospholoipid fatty acids. In contrast, ciprofloxacin was recalcitrant to degradation and transformation in water systems. In soil, however, a low but significant mineralisation was observed. The lower bioavailability of antibiotics in soil seems to reduce the compound’s toxicity allowing its biodegradation. NER formation from ciprofloxacin was fast and independent of the microbial activity. Overall, the data suggest that NER formation from abiotic processes (e.g. sequestration of parent compounds) and from biogenic residues are competitive processes in soil. Whereas based on their ready biodegradability and the high contribution of biomass residues to NER formation, 2,4-D and ibuprofen obviously are not hazardous for the environment; the data clearly demonstrated that ciprofloxacin is persistent, and strongly inhibits the microbial activity in the environment, e.g. activated sludge and soil bacterial communities. Thus, this compound is a hazardous pollutant for the environment and the ecosystem, and consequently much more attention needs to be given to contamination of soil by antibiotics, which often has been neglected. In order to generate consistent data and provide a validated assessment of the environmental risk of a chemical, biodegradation tests in soil using compounds isotopically labelled in the most stable(s) position(s) of the molecule should be performed. In addition, the generally accepted concept of NER and the methodology for their determination need to be revised with respect to distinguishing the non-biogenic (potentially hazardous) and the biogenic (harmless) NER. Nevertheless, simulation tests cannot always be implemented. For these cases some general rules for extrapolating results from water-based ready biodegradability tests to the biodegradation in soil systems can be deduced from the results of this study: i) mineralisation is higher in water than in soil for readily biodegradedable and non-toxic compounds, ii) for compounds which are highly toxic towards microorganisms, the mineralisation and metabolisation is higher in soil systems because the reduced bioavailability in soil reduces their toxicity iii) lipophilic compounds tend to form NER and are less biodegraded in soil than in aqueous systems, iv) compound elimination with low mineralisation indicates formation of potentially hazardous NER, and v) high mineralisation accompanied by microbial biomass growth generally results in the formation of non-hazardous biogenic NER."],"dc:identifier":["https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/52002","https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/search?p=id:%22RWTH-CONV-114247%22"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ"],"dc:relation":["info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:de:hbz:82-opus-38054","info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/issn/1860-0387"],"dc:rights":["info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess"],"dc:source":["Leipzig : Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, UFZ, Dissertation / Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, UFZ 2011,13 XII, 130 S. : Ill., graph. 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