Every year around 100,000 tonnes of antibiotics are consumed globally. Out of the total quantity, around 30-90% of the active compound is released back into the environment. Whether in humans, animals, poultry, or fish, there seems to be antibiotic overuse everywhere.
However, overuse is not the only cause of antibiotic pollution. One of the major culprits who have gone unnoticed over several years is pharmaceutical companies themselves. Their poor or total lack of wastewater treatment plants or disposal systems has led to a huge amount of antibiotics waste in the main water streams.
In the last few years, many organizations have taken up the task to investigate this issue at its core and the results have been an eye-opener. They revealed that in America, the main water stream has around 15 microgram/litre of antibiotics and in Europe around 10 microgram/litre. However, in Africa around 50 microgram/litre and in Asia-Pacific around 450 microgram/litre were detected.
Another report from the Changing Market Foundation revealed that drug factories in India and China are disposing of huge volumes of wastewater into the main water streams. Out of 35 investigated sites in India, antibiotics (particularly penicillin, cephalosporin and macrolides) were detected in approximately 16 of them in the nearby rivers or lakes.
From time to time, researchers emphasize the fact that antibiotic resistance genes can be easily transferred to the bacteria associated with human diseases. Hence, their presence in water proliferates the problem of drug-resistant infections.
Various steps have already been initiated globally to tackle this problem:
- In 2015, the WHO adopted the Global Action Plan on AMR. They entered into collaboration together with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health to address the issue.
- A total of 13 pharmaceutical companies pledged to reduce the environmental impact of antibiotic production. They agreed to review their manufacturing and supply chains to make sure they adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices.
- In 2017, the Indian Government also released a notice to regulate antibiotic discharges from drug-makers.
- In 2018, the AMR Industry Alliance, a global coalition of private pharmaceutical manufacturers, developed the Antibiotic Manufacturing Framework to ensure adequate control of manufacturing effluent emissions. Among the measures suggested was calculating active pharmaceutical ingredients’ discharge amounts, called the Predicted-No-Effect Concentration or antibiotic concentrations at which the alliance believes the selection pressure is minimal on microbes in the environment to mutate and develop drug resistance.
- On January 23rd, 2020, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced stringent standards on the concentrations of antibiotics found in the waste discharged by pharmaceutical factories into rivers and the surrounding environment.
Additional steps that can be taken by governments could be:
- A strict review action on pharmaceutical units engaged in manufacturing antibiotics
- Information to be released by pharmaceutical companies on government portal about their waste disposal quantity on a regular basis.
- Heavy fines and license cancelling if any company is found at fault.
- Regular audits by government officials at manufacturing sites to keep a real-time check.
The faster we implement the action, the safer the future will be. However, the more we delay it, the more deadly it will become.
#antibioticresistance #superbugs #AMR #antibiotics
Sources
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S004896971930453X
https://www.profolus.com/topics/the-role-of-pharmaceutical-companies-in-antibiotic-resistance/
https://europepmc.org/article/MED/31234491
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/clen.201300989
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2020/columnists/curb-antibiotic-pollution–now.html