FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÌý|ÌýJanuary 27, 2021
Detecting trace amounts of multiple classes of antibiotics in foods
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Widespread use of antibiotics in human healthcare and livestock husbandry has led to trace amounts of the drugs ending up in food products. Long-term consumption could cause health problems, but it’s been difficult to analyze more than a few antibiotics at a time because they have different chemical properties. Now, researchers reporting in ACS� Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have developed a method to simultaneously measure 77 antibiotics in a variety of foods.
Antibiotics can be present at trace amounts in meat, eggs and milk if the animals aren’t withdrawn from the drugs for a sufficient period of time before the products are collected. Also, antibiotics can accumulate in cereals, vegetables and fruits from manure fertilizer or treated wastewater applied to crops. Consuming these foods over a long period of time could lead to increased antibiotic resistance of bacterial pathogens or to an imbalance in the gut microbiome. However, most previous monitoring methods for antibiotics in foods have been limited to a few compounds at a time, usually within a single class of antibiotics with similar structures and chemical properties. Other methods have analyzed multiple antibiotics in only a single food type, such as eggs or milk. Yujie Ben and colleagues wanted to develop a time- and cost-effective method that could detect a wide range of antibiotics in different types of foods.
The researchers added trace amounts of 81 antibiotics from seven categories to vegetable samples and tested 20 different methods for extracting the drugs from the food. Only one extraction process, which involved treating freeze-dried, homogenized food samples with an acidified acetonitrile solution and a mixture of magnesium sulfate and sodium acetate, allowed the researchers to isolate 77 of the antibiotics. After establishing that their method was sensitive and accurate with spiked antibiotics in several foods, the team applied it to store-bought samples of wheat flour, mutton, eggs, milk, cabbage and bananas, detecting a total of 10 antibiotics. One of them, roxithromycin, was detected at trace amounts in all six food types. The new method should help with understanding, monitoring and regulating antibiotic levels in foods, the researchers say.
The authors acknowledge funding support from the , the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China and The Leading Talents of Guangdong Province Program and the State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control based at the in Shenzhen, China.
###
The American Chemical Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍø (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍø is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodicalÌýChemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACSâ€� main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Registered journalists can subscribe to the to access embargoed and public science press releases. For media inquiries, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note: ACS does not conduct research but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Media Contact
ACS Newsroom
newsroom@acs.org
###
La sociedad American Chemical Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍø (ACS) es una organización sin fines de lucro fundada en 1876 y aprobada por el Congreso de los Estados Unidos. La ACS se ha comprometido a mejorar la vida de todas las personas mediante la transformación del poder de la quÃmica. Su misión es promover el conocimiento cientÃfico, empoderar a la comunidad global y defender la integridad cientÃfica, y su visión es un mundo construido basándose en la ciencia. La Sociedad es lÃder mundial en la promoción de la excelencia en la educación cientÃfica y en el acceso a información e investigación relacionadas con la quÃmica a través de sus múltiples soluciones de investigación, publicaciones revisadas por expertos, conferencias cientÃficas, libros electrónicos y noticias semanales periódicas de Chemical & Engineering News. Las revistas de la ACS se encuentran entre las más citadas, las más fiables y las más leÃdas en la literatura cientÃfica; sin embargo, la propia ACS no realiza investigación quÃmica. Como lÃder en soluciones de información cientÃfica, su división CAS se asocia con innovadores internacionales para acelerar los avances mediante la preservación, la conexión y el análisis de los conocimientos cientÃficos del mundo. Las sedes principales de la ACS se encuentran en Washington, D.C., y Columbus, Ohio.
Los periodistas registrados pueden suscribirse al en EurekAlert! para acceder a comunicados de prensa públicos y retenidos.Ìý Para consultas de los medios, comunÃquese con newsroom@acs.org.
Nota: ACS no realiza investigaciones, pero publica y divulga estudios cientÃficos revisados por expertos.â€�
Media Contact
ACS Newsroom
newsroom@acs.org
Ìý
;void(0);){kind=link}