최근 축산용 항생제를 함유한 축산분뇨 퇴액비를 토양에 시용하였을 때 식물체가 항생제를 흡수할 수 있음을 보여주는 연구결과가 유럽과 미국에서 발표되었다. 클로르테트라싸이클린, 타이로신, 설파메타진 등 3종의 항생제를 처리한 돈분 액비를 처리하고, 상추, 토마토, 헤어리베치 등 3종을 기른 다음 식물체의 항생제 함량을 분석하여 항생제를 처리하지 않은 대조구와 비교하였다. 클로르테트라싸이클린 22.9 mg $L^{-1}$, 타이로신 27.8 mg $L^{-1}$, 설파메타진 32.4 mg $L^{-1}$ 수준의 항생제를 처리했을 때, 생체중 기준으로 클로르테트라싸이클린은 3.4 ng $g^{-1}$ 이하, 타이로신 20.1 ng $g^{-1}$ 이하, 설파메타진은 20.9-63.3 ng $g^{-1}$가 검출되었다.
Food contamination through antibiotic uptake by plants has been one of the major concerns regarding animal manure amendment to agricultural land. Antibiotic uptake by plants was tested with three veterinary antibiotics such as chlortetracycline (CTC), tylosin (TYL), and sulfamethazine (SMT) and three plants such as lettuce, tomato, and hairy vetch. Antibiotic-treated swine slurry was applied to a greenhouse soil before transplanting or sowing the plants. The treated antibiotic concentrations to the swine slurry were 22.9 mg CTC $L^{-1}$, 27.8 mg TYL $L^{-1}$, and 32.4 mg SMT $L^{-1}$. Lettuce was harvested on 64 days after transplanting and 94 days for tomato and hairy vetch. Concentrations of CTC were 3.4 ng $g^{-1}$ for lettuce and 0.7 ng $g^{-1}$ for tomato on a fresh weight basis. For TYL, 20.1 ng $g^{-1}$ from lettuce leaves and 3.0 ng $g^{-1}$ from whole hairy vetch were detected. Sulfamethazine showed greatest concentration among the three antibiotics, 63.3 ng $g^{-1}$ in lettuce leaves, 30.2 ng $g^{-1}$ in tomato fruits, and 20.9 ng $g^{-1}$ in hairy vetch. The results imply that antibiotic uptake by plants may be dependent on antibiotic type and plant type.
