Skip to main content
. 2023 Nov 16;13(12):401. doi: 10.1007/s13205-023-03806-6

Table 4.

Fate of antibiotics in the environment

Sr. no. Antibiotic Fate References
1. Meropenem Susceptible to hydrolysis (at neutral pH, the half-life is extended at 52 h) Al-Ahmad et al. (1999)
2. Ceftiofur Susceptible to hydrolysis (at neutral pH, the half-life is extended to 8 days) Gartiser et al. (2007)
3. Amoxicillin Susceptible to hydrolysis (at neutral pH, the half-life is extended to > 5 days) Andreozzi et al. (2004)
Photodegraded by UV light (UV light cannot penetrate deeply through the water surface) Burhenne et al. (1997)
4. Quinolones Photodegraded by UV light (UV light cannot penetrate deeply through the water surface) Andreozzi et al. (2004)
5. Tetracyclines Huber et al. (2005)
6. Macrolides Half-life varies from 5 to 120 days in soil and photodegrade in water between 0.2 and 200 min Voigt and Jaeger (2017)
7. Fluoroquinolones Chemically and thermally stable, adsorbed rapidly from water to soil particles Frade et al. (2014)
8. Cephalosporins Hydrolyze in > 2 weeks in surface waters and > 8 days in alkaline systems Li and Zhang (2010)