Monitoring of Veterinary Antibiotics in Animal Compost and Organic Fertilizer with CHARM II System

Veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in animal compost and organic fertilizer can have adverse effect on ecosystem and eventually human health. The main purpose of this research was to evaluate feasibility of Charm II system for monitoring residuals of VAs in animal compost and organic fertilizer. Four different VAs (Tetracyclines: TCs, Sulfonamides: SAs, Macrolides: MLs, and β-lactams: β-LTs) were analyzed and total of 100 samples were monitored. Results reveled that SAs in animal compost showed the highest detection frequency (64%) with exceeded concentration of criteria. However, very low detection frequency (0-12%) for β-LTs was observed in animal compost and organic fertilizer. Depending on physicochemical properties of each VAs, detection frequency of VAs was determined. In conclusion, charm II system can be utilized to screen if residual of VAs is in animal compost and organic fertilizer. Also, more research is necessary to establish standard method for analysis of VAs in complex matrix and to minimize adverse effect of VAs from source to environment.