Residues of antimicrobial agents and related compounds of emerging concern in manure, water and soil : Part 1: Pilot-sampling campaign in Slovakia and first findings

In a thinking of circular economy, the understanding of how problematic chemical substances may migrate and travel across the various boundaries of a life-cycle is of pivotal importance to ensure that the philosophy of reuse and recycle is not jeopardized by new risks of contamination. In this framework, veterinary medicinal products (VMP) and in particular the antimicrobial agents (AMAs) are a growing source of concern in the context of the reuse of processed manure as a fertilizer. This is mainly due to lack of understanding of their role in the development of anti-microbial resistances and their propagation. While the mechanistic study on how the propagation takes place at molecular genetic level receives much attention, the actual data situation on occurrence of VMPs and AMAs in agricultural land remains opaque and poor. In order to prepare a larger and EU-wide monitoring exercise on the waters exposed directly or indirectly to the (processed) manure a first pilot exercise was organised to develop an appropriate protocol. This first report compiles a series of background information collected. It describes the execution of first pilot sampling and presents the first elements in the development of validated analytical methods.