Adsorption of Quinolone Antibiotics to Goethite under Seawater Conditions: Application of a Surface Complexation Model

The assessment of antibiotics mobility under seawater conditions has been rarely studied, as an accurate description of such multicomponent systems is quite challenging. In this study, the adsorption of a widely used quinolone antibiotic in aquaculture, Oxolinic acid (OA), to a synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH) was examined in the presence of major (e.g., Mg2+, SO4 2–) and trace (e.g., Cu2+) ions naturally occurring in seawater. The OA adsorption can be successfully predicted using a charge distribution multisite complexation model (CD-MUSIC) coupled with the three plane model (TPM). This modeling approach allowed a quantification of the competitive and synergetic effects of different ions in seawater over a large range of environmentally relevant conditions. In addition, the transport of OA in flow-through columns can be well predicted through coupling hydrodynamic parameters and surface complexation constants obtained under seawater conditions. These results may have strong implications for assessment and prediction of the fate of quinolones in sediment–seawater interface systems.