Suggestions for Management and Control of Antibiotics in Farmland Soil in China

Abstract

Antibiotics are important for sustaining the livestock and poultry industry in China; however, duo to the agricultural utilization of livestock and poultry manure, the risk of antibiotic resistance transmission becomes increasingly prominent. Therefore, the risk control of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in the farmland soil becomes urgent in China. In this study, we summarizes the status of antibiotic pollution in the farmland soil in China, sorts out the problems regarding the management and control of emerging antibiotic pollutants in farmland soil, and proposes some measures for risk control of the antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes. This study reveals that the emerging antibiotic pollutants have not been included in soil risk management and more attention should be paid to the pollution risks of the antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes for the farmland soil. To this end, a strict veterinary drug regulatory mechanism should be established to control the risks from the source. Moreover, standards should be established for controlling antibiotic resistance in organic fertilizers, and technical guidelines should be created for regulating the treatment and application of antibiotics-containing manure, thus to reduce the amount of antibiotic resistance genes that enter into the environment. Meanwhile, human health risks caused by the generation and transfer of environmental antibiotic resistance should be assessed and studied and routine monitoring of antibiotic resistance in farmland soil should be conducted, thereby supporting the risk control of such pollutants using risk assessment.

Keywords

• antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes, farmland soil, transmission risk, management and control measures