Direct Photolysis of Human Metabolites of the Antibiotic Sulfamethoxazole: Evidence for Abiotic Back-Transformation
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The presence of potentially persistent and bioactive human metabolites in surface waters gives rise to concern; yet little is known to date about the environmental fate of these compounds. This work investigates the direct photolysis of human metabolites of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole (SMX). In particular, we determined photolysis kinetics and products, as well as their concentrations in lake water. SMX, N-acetyl sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethoxazole β-D-glucuronide, 4-nitroso sulfamethoxazole, and 4-nitro sulfamethoxazole were irradiated under various light sources and pH conditions. All investigated metabolites, except sulfamethoxazole β-D-glucuronide were found to be more photostable than SMX under environmentally relevant conditions. Between two and nine confirmed photoproducts were identified for SMX-metabolites through ultraperformance liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Interestingly, photolytic back-transformation to SMX was observed for 4-nitroso-SMX, indicating that this metabolite may serve as an environmental source of SMX. Moreover, two human metabolites along with SMX were regularly detected in Lake Geneva. The knowledge that some metabolites retain biological activity, combined with their presence in the environment and their potential to retransform to the parent compound, underlines the importance of including human metabolites when assessing the effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment.
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Acetylsulfamethoxazole seems to be a rather sensitive compound, as supported by previous studies.
“acetylsulfamethoxazole seems to be a rather sensitive compound, as supported by previous studies”
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- Authors
- Bonvin, F., Omlin, J., Rutler, R., Schweizer, W. B., Alaimo, P. J., Strathmann, T. J., McNeill, K., & Kohn, T.
- Affiliations
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Seattle University (US)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kohn, Tamar
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2012-12-12
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 6746-6755
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2023078146
- Cited by
- 221
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 6.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- infoscience.epfl.ch
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Advanced oxidation water treatment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pesticide and Herbicide Environmental Studies
- Keywords
- sulfamethoxazole, human metabolites, direct photolysis, photoproducts, photostability, photolysis kinetics, lake water, Lake Geneva, pharmaceutical pollutants, environmental fate of antibiotics
- MeSH terms
- Anti-Bacterial Agents, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Photolysis, Sulfamethoxazole, Sunlight, Switzerland, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Lakes
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