Sorption of sulfonamide pharmaceutical antibiotics on whole soils and particle-size fractions

Residues of pharmaceutical antibiotics are found in the environment, whose fate and effects are governed by sorption. Thus, the extent and mechanisms of the soil sorption of p-aminobenzoic acid and five sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfanilamide, sulfadimidine, sulfadiazine, sulfadimethoxine, and sulfapyridine) were investigated using top-soils of fertilized and unfertilized Chernozem and their organic-mineral particle-size fractions. Freundlich adsorption coefficients (K-f) ranged from 0.5 to 6.5. Adsorption increased with aromaticity and electronegativity of functional groups attached to the sulfonyl-phenylamine core. Adsorption to soil and particle-size fractions increased in the sequence: coarse silt < whole soil < medium silt < sand < clay < fine silt and was influenced by pH. Sorption nonlinearity (1/n : 0.76) indicated specific interactions with functional groups of soil organic matter (SOM). Phenolic and carboxylic groups, N-heterocyclic compounds, and lignin decomposition products were tentatively assigned as preferred binding sites using statistical analysis of pyrolysis-mass spectra and adsorption coefficients. Adsorption of sulfonamides to mineral soil colloids was weaker and resulted in a stronger desorption from clay-size fractions. Moreover, steric accessibility of organic-mineral complexes in clay-size fractions was significantly reduced. With a quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) model, combining the organic carbon concentration, the sulfonamides' chromatographic capacity factor (k'), and nondissociated species concentration (CFa), distribution coefficients (K-d) were estimated with a cross-validated regression coefficient Q(2) = 0.71. Modeling and molecular mechanics calculations of antibiotic-SOM complexes showed preferred site-specific sorption via hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. Distinct chemical structural properties, such as aromaticity and van der Waals volumes, correlated with the sorption data.