Two agricultural antibiotics used heavily in agriculture, sulfamethazine and sulfadiazine, were degraded in an aqueous system by anodic Fenton treatment (AFT), an advanced oxidation technique that has been shown to be effective in degrading various pesticides but has not been applied to antibiotics. The effects of the H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+) ratio, Fe(2+) delivery rate, and initial contaminant concentration on the degradation of sulfamethazine by AFT were determined. The optimal H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+) ratio was determined to be 10:1, and the optimal Fe(2+) delivery rate was found to be between 38.9 and 54.4 microM min(-1). Under these conditions, sulfamethazine was completely degraded within 10 min at a range of concentrations (18-250 microM) commonly found in manure lagoons, contaminated rivers, and groundwater. Using the same optimal conditions, the effect of pH on the degradation of sulfadiazine by AFT was analyzed, and 100 microM sulfadiazine was degraded within 6-8 min of treatment at a range of pH values (3.1-7.1) that could potentially be found in aquatic environments. Degradation products and pathways were proposed for both compounds, and it was inferred that AFT degradation products of sulfadiazine and sulfamethazine are unlikely to retain the bacteriostatic properties of their parent compounds. An aquatic toxicity test employing Lemna gibba confirmed that AFT removes the bacteriostatic properties of sulfamethazine and sulfadiazine during degradation.