Our main goal was to investigate the potential accumulation of fluoroquinolones (FQs) in agricultural soils over extended periods of land use, predicting leaching and estimating risk quotients for soil microorganisms. Short to long-term of poultry litter fertilization (<1-30 years) were evaluated for enrofloxacin (ENR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) input, in addition to the emergence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. High FQs concentration (range 0.56-100 mg kg-1) were measured in poultry litter samples. In soils, FQs occurrence and risks have changed over the years. An accumulation trend was observed between short and medium-term fertilized soils (ST and MT soils), reaching a range of 330-6138 μg kg-1 ENR and 170-960 μg kg-1 CIP in MT soil, followed by decreased concentrations in long-term fertilized soils (LT soils). The environmental risk assessment showed a high ENR risk quotient (RQ ≥ 1) in ST and MT soils ranging (7-226) and high CIP risk (9-53) in LT soils. The detection of qnrS genes in the area with the lowest FQs concentration emphasizes the importance of a broader approach to environmental assessment, in which not only target compounds are considered. FQs soil-water migration model pointed out a high leaching risk in ST soil. To reduce risks, management measures to decrease antibiotic environmental load should be taken before poultry litter application. In addition, the high weathering of tropical soils contributing to possible fate of antibiotics to water resources through drainage basins should be considered.
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes; Ciprofloxacin; Enrofloxacin; Environmental risk.
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