Antibiotics play an essential role in the medical healthcare world, but their widespread usage and high prevalence have posed negative environmental consequences. During the past few decades, various antibiotic drugs have been detected in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Among them, the Fluoroquinolones (FQ) group is ubiquitous in the environment and has emerged as a major environmental pollutant. FQs are very significant, broad-spectrum antibiotics used in treating various pathogenic diseases of humans and animals. The most known and used FQs are ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, enrofloxacin, danofloxacin, and moxifloxacin. After human and animal administration, about 70% of these drugs are excreted out in unaltered form into the environment. Besides, wastewater discharge from pharmaceutical industries, hospitals, and agriculture runoff is the major contributor to the accumulation of FQs into the ecosystem. Their long-term presence in the environment creates selection pressure on microorganisms and contributes to the emergence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria. In addition to the resistance, these antibiotics also impose ecotoxicological effects on various animals and plant species. The presence of the fluorine atom in Fluoroquinolones makes them highly electronegative, strong, recalcitrant, and less compatible with microbial degradation. Many biological and chemical processes have been invented and successfully implemented during the past few decades for the elimination of these pollutants from the environment. This review provides a detailed overview of the classification, occurrence, distribution, and ecotoxicological effects of Fluoroquinolones. Their modes of action, resistance mechanism, detection and analysis methods, and remediation strategies have also been discussed in detail.

抗生素在医疗保健领域发挥着重要作用，但它们的广泛使用和高流行率已经对环境造成了负面影响。在过去的几十年中，在水生和陆地生态系统中发现了各种抗生素药物。其中，氟喹诺酮类（FQ）基团在环境中无处不在，已成为主要的环境污染物。FQs是一种非常重要的广谱抗生素，用于治疗人类和动物的各种致病性疾病。最知名和使用最多的 FQ 是环丙沙星、诺氟沙星、氧氟沙星、左氧氟沙星、恩诺沙星、达诺沙星和莫西沙星。在人类和动物给药后，这些药物中约有 70% 以原样排泄到环境中。此外，制药行业、医院、农业径流是 FQ 积累到生态系统中的主要贡献者。它们在环境中的长期存在对微生物产生了选择压力，并导致了多重耐药细菌的出现。除了抗性之外，这些抗生素还对各种动植物物种产生生态毒理学影响。氟喹诺酮类中氟原子的存在使它们具有高负电性、强、顽固性，并且与微生物降解的相容性较差。在过去的几十年中，人们发明并成功实施了许多生物和化学过程，以消除环境中的这些污染物。本综述详细概述了氟喹诺酮类药物的分类、发生、分布和生态毒理学效应。