-The abstract mentions soil antibiotic levels exceeding 2.13×10^5 ng/g, but Figure 3 shows soil tetracycline concentrations maxing out around 10^2.3 ng/g. That’s a massive 1000x difference. Which number is correct, and does this error compromise your risk assessment?
-You propose a “planetary boundary for antibiotics” with a specific threshold of 153.7 μg/kg based on a single 2025 paper. Given the extreme variability in ecosystems and the lack of global consensus, isn’t this proposed boundary scientifically meaningless and dangerously premature for policy?
– The abstract claims fluoroquinolones in aquatic organisms reach 47,000 ng/g, yet the text reports fish enrofloxacin up to 148.4 ng/g and aquatic plants up to 711.0 ng/g. Please identify the source and matrix for 47,000 ng/g; otherwise this appears to be a unit or data error.
– The caption states surface water and “human bodies” are in ng/L, manure in mg/kg, and sediments/soils/biota in ng/g, yet all are log-transformed “for better comparison.” Log-transforming different units does not make them comparable. Also, what exactly is “human body” concentration—urine, blood, tissue? This must be clarified.
– Fig. 2B legend caps drinking-water concentrations at >25 ng/L, while page 2 reports fluoroquinolones in drinking water at 13.4–123.6 ng/L. If Fig. 2 is cumulative, this is inconsistent; if not, the “additive principle” needs justification.
– Page 2 says “in freshwater ecosystems, particularly lake environments, sulfonamides are the dominant class,” but immediately states “quinolones dominated in China’s lakes.” Please clarify whether this is a global vs. China comparison or an error.
– Page 9 states swine-farm dust contains up to 2.5 mg/kg antibiotics and then refers to “low daily intake levels (20 mg/day per person by inhalation).” A 20 mg/day inhalation intake is not low and is implausible from 2.5 mg/kg dust. Please correct the unit/source.
Clear typo with major meaning: Page 6 states livestock products “tested positive for antibodies” when antibiotics are intended. This should be corrected.
– Fig. 4 reports EC50 values in mg/L for animals, plants, and microbes, but soil microbial EC50s are normally expressed per mg/kg soil. Mixing aquatic and soil exposure media in one comparative figure is not valid without clarification.
– The caption says data include “prevalence and concentration of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes,” but the figure shows only % resistance.
– Page 10 says countries submit “residue or AMR data” to WHO GLASS; GLASS is an AMR surveillance system, not an environmental antibiotic-residue database. This conflates two different data streams.
– Page 6 notes a dilution effect from phytoplankton to zooplankton, while page 8 claims trophic magnification of antibiotics to humans. Please provide direct evidence for biomagnification, as many antibiotics are not expected to biomagnify.
– The table gives 153.7 μg/kg for tetracyclines and quinolones in agricultural soil, but the paper does not explain how this threshold was derived, whether it applies to single compounds or sums, or how it is consistent with reported soil concentrations exceeding it by orders of magnitude.