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. 2025 Jul 26;15(1):27228.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03826-7.

Occurrence of microplastic, antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in livestock and poultry manure in west iran

Mitra Mohammadi  1   2 , Abdollah Dargahi  3   4 , Ali Almasi  5   6 , Seyyed Alireza Mousavi  7 , Parviz Mohammadi  7
Affiliations

Occurrence of microplastic, antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in livestock and poultry manure in west iran

Mitra Mohammadi et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Identifying emerging contaminants in animal manure has great importance in sustainable development. Therefore, in this study, microplastics, antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in cow (COM) and poultry manure (POM) were investigated in Kermanshah province, which is one of the hubs of livestock and poultry farming. A total of 71.42% of the samples contained microplastics with four morphotypes: fiber, film, fragment, and sphere. These microplastics were characterized by colorless, green, yellow, blue, white, and black hues. PE and PP were the maximum composition. The abundance and diversity of microplastics in COM were higher than in POM. The concentration of doxycycline, erythromycin, enrofloxacin, and progesterone was in the range of 0.53-2.3 mg/kg, 0.49-1.9 mg/kg, 0.54-2.6 mg/kg, and 46.2-21.5 mg/kg, respectively. Zn (mg/kg) in COM and POM was 248.16 ± 31.62 and 200.1 ± 39.17, respectively, which were the maximum heavy metals. The average of Cr and Cu in COM was recorded as 34.46 ± 17.58 and 100.2 ± 2.22.03, and in POM as 34.2 ± 11.6 and 148.4 ± 57.02, respectively. The direct application of COM and POM could be a new route for the presence of emerging pollutants in agricultural soils. Therefore, this issue should be given serious attention by the environmental officials in Iran, and a solution should be devised.

Keywords: Emergent pollutants; Livestock manure; Microplastic; Poultry manure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of MPs in COM and POM. a: color, b: shape, c: morphotype, and d: polymer type number in AMs.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Progesterone concentration (mg/kg) in a) different samples and b) COM and POM.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
AABs in a) COM and POM and b) different sites in Kermanshah province.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Heavy metal content in a) COM and POM and b) different sites in Kermanshah province.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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