Occurrence, risks, and mitigation of antibiotic pollution in Bangladeshi aquaculture systems

The increasing use of antibiotics in Bangladeshi aquaculture to prevent diseases and enhance production has resulted in notable environmental contamination and resistance risks. Despite the increasing use of antibiotics in Bangladeshi aquaculture, their occurrence and the effective removal of antibiotics from aquaculture wastewater remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this study comprehensively investigated the occurrence, distribution, and ecological impacts of 26 antibiotics belongs to seven classes in the surface water of 50 aquaculture farms cultivating finfish and shellfish. Sulfadiazine, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, erythromycin-H 2 O, and amoxicillin were the most frequently detected antibiotics, with sulfadiazine reaching a peak concentration of 25,000 ng L −1 . Stripped catfish ( Pangasius hypophthalmus ) culture ponds exhibited the highest contamination levels, with 12 antibiotics quantified. Notably,…