Natural Barriers to Antibiotic Entry into the Trophic Chain: Some Examples of the Role of Soils and By-Products

This chapter explores the vital intersection of environmental science and pharmaceutical pollution mitigation. Withing the overall problem, specific examples are provided, investigating the adsorption behaviors of three prominent antibiotics—amoxicillin, trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin—across various bio-adsorbents. In that way, this study delves into the mechanisms governing the interactions between these emerging contaminants and environmentally sustainable remediation agents. Also, as examples, some by-products (specifically, pine bark and oak ash) are revealed as promising bio-adsorbents for the effective retention of antibiotics, holding potential as green barriers against the mobilization of pharmaceutical pollutants into soils and essential water resources. This chapter take into account global issues related to environmental pollution due to emerging pollutants, and specifically antibiotics (thus including a variety of groups, such as anticoccidials and many others), but is mainly conceived to go ahead considering previous studies of the research group, contributing to pave the way for future exploration of binary and tertiary adsorption systems, offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of pharmaceutical pollution remediation of soils, both at a local scale and globally.