The worlds rivers are awash in antibiotics. Antibiotics were once wonder drugs that saved lives. They still are today, but our global inability to manage waste is creating an environment where antibiotic resistant bacteria can thrive. The result will be super bacteria that can't be treated with what were once life saving antibiotics.
The rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global health emergency that could kill 10 million people by 2050, the UN said last month.
The drugs find their way into rivers and soil via human and animal waste and leaks from wastewater treatment plants and drug manufacturing facilities. “It’s quite scary and depressing. We could have large parts of the environment that have got antibiotics at levels high enough to affect resistance,” said Alistair Boxall, an environmental scientist at the University of York, who co-led the study.Researchers test sites in 72 countries and found antibiotic pollution in 65% of 711 sites tested. Over 15% of the sites demonstrated antibiotic pollution exceeding levels considered safe. Rivers in poor countries are the most saturated with antibiotics, creating a situation where those in the most economically disadvantaged areas of the world face the most serious repercussions.
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