REVIEW Fluoroquinolones in soil—risks and challenges Yolanda Picó & Vicente Andreu Received: 30 June 2006 / Revised: 7 September 2006 / Accepted: 7 September 2006 / Published online: 3 November 2006 # Springer-Verlag 2006 Abstract Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are among the most important antibacterial agents used in human and veterinary medicine. Because of the growing practice of adding manure and sewage sludge to agricultural fields these drugs end up in soils, where they can accumulate and have adverse effects on organisms. This paper presents an overview of recent developments in the determination of FQs in solid environmental matrices and describes the risks and challenges (persistence, fate, effects, and remediation) which result from their presence in soil. Keywords Antibiotics . Fluoroquinolones (FQs) . Soil . Analysis . Environmental fate Introduction Public and scientific concern about the presence of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in the environment has increased during the last decade, because of their unfa- vourable ecotoxicity and possible adverse effects on human health [1–3]. The occurrence, fate and risk assessment of pharmaceuticals in the environment, especially in water, have been treated by several authors [3–6], because this information has been required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1980 and by the European Union since 1997 [1, 7, 8]. Research has shown that these compounds, after passing through wastewater treatment, are released directly into ecosystems. There is, however, no regulation of concentration limits of these compounds in the different environmental compartments [8]. Díaz-Cruz et al. [9] reviewed the fate and analysis of pharmaceuticals in soils, sediments, and sludges. In particular, details were given on sources, fate, persistence, and the effects of pharmaceuticals in solid environmental matrices. Pharma- ceutical antibiotic compounds in soils and biosolids have also been reviewed by several other authors [5, 8, 10, 11]. Most of these covered both the hazard and the likeliness exposure, basing their evaluation on predicted concentra- tions and laboratory data. The authors pointed out that to provide accurate data on real levels, and details of the fate of pharmaceuticals in different environmental compart- ments, measurement of environmental concentrations was essential. The relevance of the analytical techniques used to study these compounds in environmental matrices to the proper assessment of the risk is, therefore, becoming increasingly clear. This explains why many efforts are dedicated to the development of new and more reliable methods for characterization of pharmaceuticals and their degradation products in soils [12–14]. In this context, little is still known about the extent of environmental occurrence, transport, and ultimate fate and effect of pharmaceuticals in general, or of each group in particular. Penicillins, tetracyclines, sulfonamides and mac- rolides are the most widely monitored classes of antibiotics [1, 15]. These results have contributed important informa- tion on environmental exposure, which has been used to assess the environmental risk of the chemicals. Anal Bioanal Chem (2007) 387:1287–1299 DOI 10.1007/s00216-006-0843-1 Y. Picó (*) Laboratori de Bromatologia i Toxicologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de València, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain e-mail: yolanda.pico@uv.es V. Andreu Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE)-CSIC,UV,GV, Camí de la marjal s/n, 46470 Albal, València, Spain