[Degradation pathways and main degradation products of tetracycline antibiotics: research progress]

Abstract

Tetracycline antibiotics (TCs) can produce a series of abiotic degradation reactions in the process of production and storage, and some of the degradation products have lower antibacterial activity but higher toxicity, as compared to the parent antibiotics. TCs can enter the environment via the disposal of livestock and poultry wastes, and then degrade in one or more ways according to the external conditions. Besides abiotic degradation, bio-degradation also happens. This paper reviewed the degradation pathways and main degradation products of TCs in different ecological environments, and discussed the future research directions, aimed to provide valuable reference for the ecological risk assessment of the antibiotics.