Analysis of research hotspots on antibiotics and endocrine disruptors in rivers based on bibliometrics

Antibiotics and endocrine disruptors are emerging contaminants that have attracted global attention in recent years. Based on the databases of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WoS), relevant literature on the environmental behavior of antibiotics and endocrine disruptors in rivers was retrieved. CiteSpace and VOSviewer software were used for bibliometric analysis and visualization display. The results showed that a total of 2 085 relevant papers were searched in CNKI and WoS from 2000 to 2022, including 399 Chinese articles and 1 686 English articles. The research in this field showed an upward trend and increased rapidly in the past five years. The English literature involved 96 countries and 2 022 institutions, and the international performance of China and the United States was the most prominent, with 773 and 251 articles published respectively. The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked first in publications and cooperated closely with institutions at home and abroad. The journals published were mainly in the field of environmental science with interdisciplinary integration, with Environmental Science (Chinese) and Science of the Total Environment topping the publications. The keywords clustering and time zone maps showed that regional research was mainly focused at present. The pollution characteristics of endocrine disruptors including bisphenol A, nonylphenol and organochlorine pesticides, and antibiotics including sulfonamides, tetracyclines and quinolones in rivers were most widely studied, while research on hormonal endocrine disruptors was still insufficient. Study on the migration, transformation and removal mechanisms of the pollutants in rivers was the main trend. The results of keywords of strongest citation bursts indicated that the research in this field over the past 20 years could be divided into three stages. In the early stage, research mainly focused on analysis methods and investigation on the occurrence and characteristics of the contaminants in rivers. In the mid-term, studies primarily concentrated on examining the contaminant transport and fate. In recent years, it has shifted from ecological risk assessment to river water ecological health management services, and the development of pollution control strategies and removal technologies based on regional characteristics are current hotspots and future trends. Besides, the issue of antibiotic resistance originating from antibiotic contamination has garnered global attention, and the generation and transmission mechanism of antibiotic resistance genes and their ecological and health risk are also current hotspots and possible future focus.