Mehri Samandari - Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Hossein Movahedian Attar - Corresponding author: Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Karim Ebrahimpour - Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Farzaneh Mohammadi - Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Soudabeh Ghodsi - Student Research Committee, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Background: In recent years, the world has faced with the COVID-۱۹ pandemic, followed by a significant increase in the use of antibiotics to control the COVID-۱۹ and other secondary infections. The non-biodegradable characteristics of antibiotics and their residues in the environment leads to increased microbial and drug resistance. Therefore, due to the high importance of antibiotics, two antibiotics, ampicillin and penicillin G, were studied in Isfahan municipal WWTPs. Methods: Sampling was performed for two months during ۱۳ sampling periods and antibiotics were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detector (HPLC/UV) instrument. Results: Ampicillin and penicillin G were identified in all samples taken from the both WWTPs. The average concentration of penicillin G in WWTP E and S at the influent, effluent and its removal efficiency were ۱۰۵۰.۵۴±۷۶۱.۴۳ μg/L, ۵۲.۸۹±۴۹.۲۷ μg/L, ۸۹.۸۰±۱۹.۴۲%, ۲۰۵۵.۱۲±۱۷۸۸.۰۸ μg/L, ۱۴۳.۰۱±۱۶۲.۵۹ μg/L and ۸۲.۷۶±۲۱.۸۵%, respectively. Also, the average concentration of ampicillin in WWTP E and S in the influent (۷۹۶.۴۴ ± ۸۰۹.۶ and ۴۴۷.۱±۳۲۲.۳۹ μg/L), effluent (۴۸.۹۴ ± ۲۴.۲۵ and ۹۰.۳۱±۷۵.۹۱ μg/L), and its removal efficiency (۸۶.۲۲ ± ۱۹.۸۴% and ۶۶.۸۵±۲۴.۸۸%) were determined. Conclusion: In two studied WWTPs, the concentration of antibiotics was higher during the COVID-۱۹ pandemic in comparison with previous studies. The statistical analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between the concentration of antibiotics in WWTPs (P<۰.۰۵). Also, the statistical results indicated that the correlation is not significant between removal efficiency of antibiotics and removal efficiency of wastewater main parameters.

Anti-bacterial agents, COVID-۱۹, Wastewater, High-pressure liquid chromatography, Ampicillin, Penicillin G