Oxytetracycline traces were found in shrimp. (Photo Credit: Vera Kratochvil/FIS)
Research detects antibiotics traces in commercial seafood
UNITED STATES
Monday, October 27, 2014, 03:00 (GMT + 9)
Two scientists have carried out a new study to examine the persistence of antibiotics in seafood raised by aquaculture and have found traces of five of them in commercial species purchased in the country.
As part of their research, doctoral candidate Hansa Done and professor Rolf Halden, both researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, measured the presence of antibiotics in shrimp, salmon, catfish, trout, tilapia and swai, originating from 11 countries.
Data from this research -- published in the current issue of the Journal of Hazardous Materials -- show traces of five of the 47 antibiotics evaluated in the seafood samples from stores in Arizona and California acquired by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“The threat of living in a post-antibiotic era cannot be avoided without revising current practices in the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry, including in aquaculture,” says Halden.
Although all the seafood analyzed was found to be in compliance with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, it was detected that five antibiotics were present in detectable amounts: oxytetracycline in wild shrimp, farmed tilapia, farmed salmon and farmed trout; 4-epioxytetracycline in farmed salmon, sulfadimethoxine in farmed shrimp, ormetoprim in farmed salmon and virginiamycin in farmed salmon that had been marketed as antibiotic-free.
Besides, the study also detected antibiotics in wild-caught shrimp imported from Mexico, which the authors suggest may be due to mislabeling, coastal pollution from sewage contamination or cross-contamination during handling and processing.
The researchers in charge of this study consider it critical to monitor the use of antibiotics in seafood due to the many unintended consequences they can produce.
Some examples of these consequences are antibiotic resistance, including antibiotic dissemination into the surrounding environment, residual concentrations remaining in seafood, and high antibiotic exposure for personnel working in aquaculture facilities.
Therefore, these scientists are convinced that changes in aquaculture are needed to ensure the practice can be carried out on a large scale in a sustainable manner.
Photo Credit: Vera Kratochvil/FIS
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