Research Article Simultaneous Determination of Fluoroquinolones and Sulfonamides Originating from Sewage Sludge Compost K. Kipper, 1 M. Lillenberg, 2 K. Herodes, 1 L. Nei, 3 and E. Haiba 3 1 Institute of Chemistry, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia 2 Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia 3 Tartu College, Tallinn University of Technology, Tartu, Estonia Correspondence should be addressed to K. Kipper; karin.kipper@gmail.com Received 20 February 2017; Revised 1 May 2017; Accepted 11 May 2017; Published 12 June 2017 Academic Editor: Sandra Babic Copyright © 2017 K. Kipper et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A simultaneous method for quantitative determination of traces of fluoroquinolones (FQs) and sulfonamides (SAs) in edible plants fertilized with sewage sludge was developed. e compounds were extracted from the plants by rapid and simple liquid extraction followed by extracts clean-up using solid phase extraction. e eluent additive 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol was used for liquid chromatographic detection to achieve separation of structurally similar antimicrobials like ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin. Identification and quantification of the compounds were performed using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in selected reaction monitoring mode. Method was validated and extraction recoveries of FQs and SAs ranged from 66% to 93%. e limit of quantifications was from 5 ng/g in the case of ofloxacin to 40 ng/g for norfloxacin. e method precision ranged from 1.43% to 2.61%. e developed novel method was used to evaluate the plats antimicrobial uptake (potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), carrot (Daucus carota L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and wheat (Triticum vulgare L.)) from soil and migration of the analytes inside the plants. 1. Introduction e increase of the yearly production of sewage sludge compost containing human and veterinary antimicrobials has led to antimicrobial resistance being one of the top health challenges in the 21st century [1]. One of the largest and most diverse microbial habitats on Earth is soil, a vast repository of the antimicrobial resistance genes between soil bacteria and clinical pathogens [2]. When antimicrobials are eliminated from the human body, they can be excreted in their native form or as metabolites [3]. Since antimicrobials are developed to have a specific mode of action, even low levels of these drugs in edible plants can cause effects in organisms [4]. Several studies have demonstrated that the two most important sources through which toxic compounds reach the environment are sewage sludge and compost, which are oſten used in agriculture [5–9]. More generally, pharmaceuticals move into the sewage system and to waste water treatment plants [10]. e nutrition-rich sewage sludge and compost can be used as fertilizers for plants. e increasing propor- tions of administered drugs and personal care products are alarming because the compound releases into the environ- ment are not controlled [11, 12] and this is a potential threat to the environment [13–15]. It is worrisome that pharmaceutical compounds may potentially enter edible food plants that have been fertilized with sewage sludge compost [9, 16–18]. e risks from the fertilizer should be evaluated carefully. Exposure to pharmaceuticals via plant-derived foodstuffs is usually low and effects on human health are in most cases unlikely. is route of exposure may, however, be more significant for a small number of highly toxic medicines or in situations where long-term low-level exposure could elicit subtler effects (e.g., promotion of antibacterial resistance or endocrine disruption) [19]. A chemical can undergo various structural changes by a multitude of biotic and nonbiotic pro- cesses aſter its introduction into the environment. Structural transformations may also be a result of effluent treatment [4, 20–26]. e maximum residue levels (MRL) are set only for food of animal origin, milk and meat [27, 28]. Hindawi e Scientific World Journal Volume 2017, Article ID 9254072, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9254072