Annual global aquaculture production has more than tripled within the past 20
years, and by 2015, aquaculture is predicted to account for 40 % of total global seafood
production by weight. As production surges, aquaculture facilities increasingly rely on
the heavy input of formulated feeds, antibiotics, antifungals and agrochemicals, which
could have potential impacts on public health [1].
In particular, the risk of bacterial infections among aquacultured fish is high as a
result of the non-hygienic and stressful conditions present in aquaculture facilities,
including high fish densities, high farm densities in coastal waters and lack of
appropriate barriers between farms. Therefore, heavy amounts of antibiotics, which kill
bacteria or inhibit their growth, are administered in fish feed for prophylactic (disease
prevention) and therapeutic (disease treatment) purposes in aquaculture facilities
worldwide [1]. However, the antibiotics can contribute to resistance among bacteria [2].
Thus, it is necessary to develop analytical methods that can detect antibiotics with the
greatest sensitivity and selectivity possible.
In this way, electroanalytical sensors provide an achievable opportunity to
perform biomedical, environmental and industrial analyses away from a centralized
laboratory. In particular, screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) can combine ease of use and
portability with simple, inexpensive fabrication techniques. Although early SPEs
sensors focused on the determination of glucose in blood samples, since then
applications have broadened to include the determination of other biomolecules,
pesticides, metals, anions and potential pollutants [2-4].
Thus, this work has been guided to the development of analytical procedures
based on the use of SPEs for the detection of the above-mentioned antibiotics in water
samples
