- Jonah Fisher
- BBC
A study stated that pollution in the world’s rivers due to the dumping of medicines and pharmaceutical products represents a “threat to the environment and global health.”
According to a study conducted by the University of York, Britain, drugs such as paracetamol and drugs to treat epilepsy and diabetes, and substances including nicotine and caffeine were found in abundance in rivers.
This study, which was conducted on an international level, is considered one of the most expensive studies. It was found that the rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and Ethiopia were among the most polluted, while the rivers of Iceland, Norway and the Amazon were the best.
The effect of many of the most common pharmaceutical compounds in rivers remains largely unknown.
But it has already been shown that dissolved human contraceptives can affect the development and reproduction of fish, and scientists fear that the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers will limit their effectiveness as medicines.
study:Medicines in rivers threaten global health
The study examined samples from more than 1,000 sites in more than 100 countries.
Overall, more than a quarter of the 258 rivers in question were found to have “active pharmaceutical ingredients” at levels considered unsafe for aquatic organisms.
Dr John Wilkinson, who led the study, told the BBC: “What usually happens is we take in these chemicals, they have acceptable effects on us and then they leave our body.”
“What we know now is that even the most modern efficient wastewater treatment plants are not fully capable of breaking down these compounds before they end up in rivers or lakes,” Wilkinson added.
The most common pharmaceuticals that have been discovered are carbamazepine, which is used to treat epilepsy and neuropathic pain, and metorphine, which is used to treat diabetes.
High concentrations of so-called “consumables” such as caffeine (coffee) and nicotine (cigarettes) as well as the pain reliever paracetamol were also found.
picture released, Dr.John Wilkinson
The Nairobi River is one of the most polluted rivers for pharmaceutical products
In Africa, a drug used to treat malaria was found in high concentrations.
Dr Veronica Edmonds, a marine biologist at the University of Hertfordshire, told the BBC: “We can say that the effect of these substances on rivers is mostly going to be negative, but we have to do individual tests on each river, and there are relatively few studies.”
And she added, “It will get worse because we use drug solutions for any disease, whether physical or psychological.”
The study says the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers might also lead to the development of resistant bacteria, harming drug efficacy and ultimately posing a “global threat to the environment and global health”.
The most polluted sites were largely located in low- and middle-income countries, and in areas where there is sewage dumping, poor water management, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“We have seen polluted rivers in Nigeria and South Africa with very high concentrations of pharmaceuticals, and this is mainly due to the lack of infrastructure in wastewater treatment,” says Dr. Mohamed Abdullah, associate professor of studying the effects of emerging pollutants at the University of Birmingham, UK.
“This is worrying because you have the most vulnerable population groups, who do not have access to health care, are exposed to this pollution,” Abdullah continued.
On the question of what to do, the study’s lead author, Dr. Wilkinson, has a somewhat disappointed view.
“It will take a lot of people who are smarter than me to tackle the problem,” he says. “One of the few things that can have an effect now is the proper use of medications.”
This means more difficult access to medicines such as antibiotics, and tighter limits on dosages.
The full report was published in the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
