Binary Adsorption and Migration Simulation of Levofloxacin with zinc at Concentrations Simulating Wastewater on Silty Clay and The Potential Environmental Risk in Groundwater

Migration of soil pollutants can cause groundwater pollution, which is dominated by the soil adsorption of pollutants. Heavy metals and fluoroquinolone antibiotics exist in the soil and form compound pollution, with different adsorption behaviors in the soil. It may make the levofloxacin (LVFX) migration and potential risk of LVFX to groundwater change. Therefore, this research on Zinc (Zn/Zn2+) and LVFX studied the binary adsorption on silty clay in the vadose zone using the batch equilibrium adsorption method. Besides, Hydrus-1D simulate vertical migration. As the results show: (1) Silty clay has excellent storage capacity (adsorption rate>90%) for LVFX and is a natural barrier to reducing groundwater risk; (2) Binary adsorption of LVFX with Zn on silty clay had could be influenced by metallic oxide, pH value, and cation species. The metallic oxides adsorption rate decreased by 10.3%; Compared with single adsorption, Zn2+ promoted the adsorption of LVFX on silty clay, with the exception that the pH value was 2.0; Based on the simulated migration, subtle changes in adsorption may lead to a significant difference in migration and impact on the environmental risk of LVFX to groundwater. This paper proposed three aspects of the research should be strengthened to further develop the potential of silty clay in the prevention and control of groundwater pollution.

Automated summary

Migration of soil pollutants can cause groundwater pollution, which is dominated by the soil adsorption of pollutants. Heavy metals and fluoroquinolone antibiotics exist in the soil and form compound pollution, with different adsorption behaviors in the soil. This research focuses on the binary adsorption of zinc and levofloxacin (LVFX) on silty clay and its impact on groundwater pollution.