Lincomycin Sorption by Smectite Clays.

Lincosamide antibiotics widely administered as a human and veterinary medicines are frequently detected in water. Little is known about the soil-water distribution of lincomycin despite the fact that this is a major determinant of its environmental fate and potential for exposure. Cation exchange was the primary mechanism responsible for lincomycin sorption by soil clay minerals. This was evidenced by pH-dependent sorption, and competition with inorganic cations for sorptive sites. As solution pH increased, lincomycin sorption decreased. The extent of reduction was consistent with the decrease in cationic lincomycin species in solution. The presence of Ca²⁺ in solution diminished lincomycin sorption. Clay interlayer hydration status strongly influenced lincomycin sequestration. Smectites with the charge deficit from isomorphic substitution in tetrahedral layers (i.e. saponite) manifest a less hydrated interlayer environment resulting in greater sorption than that by octahedrally substituted clays (i.e. montmorillonite). Strongly hydrated exchangeable cations resulted in a more hydrated clay interlayer environment which reduced sorption in the order of Ca- < K- < Cs-smectite. X-ray diffraction revealed that lincomycin was intercalated in smectite clay interlayers. Sorption capacity was limited by clay surface area rather than by cation exchange capacity. Smectite interlayer hydration was shown to be a major, yet previously unrecognized, factor influencing the cation exchange process of lincomycin on aluminosilicate mineral surfaces.