Investigation of quinolones in aquaculture environment of the Pearl River Delta

The concentrations and distributions of three sorts of quinolones(norfloxacin,ciprofloxacin and enorfloxacin) in water,sediments and the tissues of 8 kinds of fishes from 7 sites in Pearl River Delta aquaculture regions(freshwater and marine) were determined by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) with fluorescence detector.Results showed that no quinolones were found in either fresh waterborne or marine water.Norfloxacin,ciprofloxacin and enorfloxacin in sediments collected from freshwater aquaculture region ranged from 5.03-13.28,3.64-9.32 and 0-7.13(ng·g~(-1)),respectively,ranged from 1.88-8.81,0-1.09(ng·g~(-1)) in marine aquaculture area,respectively.Enorfloxacin were not found in sediments from marine aquaculture.Three kinds of quinolones in liver tissues were higher than that in muscle tissues.The residues of norfloxacin,ciprofloxacin and enorfloxacin in fish muscle tissues ranged from 1.95-100.54,0.48-33.26 and 1.18-51.89(ng·g~(-1)),respectively.The concentration of pharmaceuticals in fish tissues were ranked by size as following:norfloxacin,ciprofloxacin and enofloxacin.Higher concentration of quinolones was found in fish from freshwater aquaculture than marine aquaculture.