Rivers are contaminated with ‘dangerous levels’ of antibiotics as some of the world’s most famous waterways are polluted with up to 300 times the safe limit of common drugs
- Antibiotics in the waterways is a leading cause of antibiotic resistance
- 65 per cent of rivers across 72 different countries tested positive for antibiotics
- Metronidazole concentrations 300 times greater than ‘safe’ level in Bangladesh
- The River Thames had five commonly used drugs in the water
Antibiotics are polluting the world’s waterways, with rivers up to 300 times higher than a drug’s established ‘safe’ limit.
Researchers found dangerous levels of the pharmaceuticals, including those used to treat skin and urinary tract infections, throughout the world’s waterways.
High concentrations of antibiotics is a leading cause of antibiotic resistance, one of the world’s most severe threats to human health.
Almost two thirds (65 per cent) of rivers across 72 different countries tested positive for 14 commonly used antibiotics.
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Huge amounts of antibiotics are polluting the world’s waterways, with some rivers 300 times higher than the established ‘safe’ limit. High concentrations of antibiotics in the waterways is a leading cause of antibiotic resistance, one of the most sever threats to human health
Metronidazole is used to treat bacterial infections including skin and mouth infections and was found at concentrations 300 times greater than the ‘safe’ level in Bangladesh.
The River Thames also failed the test for this common antibiotic, but by a lesser margin. It also tested positive for four other compounds.
Researchers recorded a concentration of 233 nanograms per litre (ng/l), whereas in Bangladesh the concentration was 170 times higher than this.
While metronidazole took the record for the drug found in the most dangerous level at a single site, trimethoprim was the most prolific.
The UTI drug was detected at 307 of the 711 sites tested.
The research team compared the monitoring data with ‘safe’ levels recently established by the AMR Industry Alliance which, depending on the antibiotic, range from 20-32,000 ng/l.
Ciproflaxacin, which is used to treat a number of bacterial infections, was the compound that most frequently exceeded safe levels, surpassing the safety threshold in 51 places.
The research team compared the monitoring data with ‘safe’ levels recently established by the AMR Industry Alliance which, depending on the antibiotic, range from 20-32,000 ng/l (stock)
University of York researchers led the research and sent out 92 sampling kits to partners across the world who were asked to take samples from locations along their local river system.
Dr John Wilkinson, from the Department of Environment and Geography, who co-ordinated the monitoring work said no other study had been done on this scale.
He said: ‘Until now, the majority of environmental monitoring work for antibiotics has been done in Europe, N. America and China. Often on only a handful of antibiotics. We know very little about the scale of problem globally.
‘Our study helps fill this key knowledge gap with data being generated for countries that had never been monitored before.’
Professor Alistair Boxall, Theme Leader of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, said: ‘The results are quite eye opening and worrying, demonstrating the widespread contamination of river systems around the world with antibiotic compounds.
‘Many scientists and policy makers now recognise the role of the natural environment in the antimicrobial resistance problem. Our data show that antibiotic contamination of rivers could be an important contributor.’
Sites where antibiotics exceeded safe levels were most often found in Asia and Africa, but also at sites in Europe, with researchers calling it a ‘global problem’.
