Pharmaceuticals pollute rivers, experts warn of next pandemic

A new study shows that drugs used by humans are seriously polluting the world's rivers, in the Kai Tak River in Hong Kong, 34 different drugs have been tested. Experts warn that pharmaceutical contamination poses a threat to the environment and human health worldwide and could spawn a new pandemic.

New research shows that drugs used by humans are seriously polluting the world's rivers.

According to the BBC, a global study led by York University has found that levels of pollution in rivers from drugs and medicinal products constitute a 'threat to the environment and global health.'

In this trial, more than a quarter of the active pharmaceutical ingredients were found to be biologically unsafe. The study, which sampled river water from more than 1,000 sites across 258 rivers in more than 100 countries, is by far the largest study of pharmaceutical contamination in rivers.

Researchers detected the diabetes drug Metformin, the epilepsy drug Carbamazepine (CBZ) and the painkiller Paracetamol in river water samples, including caffeine commonly found in coffee drinks and nicotine residues commonly found in cigarettes. Among them, rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and Ethiopia were the most polluted, while rivers in Iceland, Norway and the Amazon rainforest performed the best.

The extent of the effects of many common pharmaceutical compounds on rivers is unknown, the report said. But human birth control pills dissolved in the river were determined to affect the growth and reproduction of fish. Scientists are concerned about rising levels of antibiotics in rivers, which could have an impact on drug resistance.

Dr John Wilkinson at the University of York, UK, who led the study, told the BBC that people have used these chemicals, they will affect the human body, then leave the body. people. However, even the most advanced and efficient wastewater treatment plants cannot completely dissolve these compounds before releasing them into rivers and lakes.

According to The Guardian, Dr John Wilkinson said that the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies have warned that 'antibiotic resistance is the biggest threat facing humanity and the next pandemic. according to.'

The report mentions that hotspots with very high concentrations of pharmaceutical active ingredients include Lahore, a major city in Pakistan; La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia; Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia; and Madrid, the capital of Spain, made the top 10%; Glasgow in Scotland and Dallas in the United States made the top 20%. It is remarkable that 34 different active pharmaceutical ingredients were discovered at one site on the Kai Tak River, Hong Kong, ranking first in the world.

Kai Tak River, Hong Kong

According to reports, on February 15, the City University of Hong Kong released a research survey, which found that the Kai Tak River in East Kowloon and the Lam Tsuen River in the New Territories were found to contain a variety of species. antibiotics, forming a 'river of antibiotics'.

One of these diabetes drugs can cause male fish to produce female organs. The Kai Tak River was found to contain up to 34 pharmaceutical drugs, ranking first in the world, in which the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin exceeded the standard by 1.3 times and Clarithromycin by 5.5 times.

The report indicates that common drugs found in rivers are analgesics and antibiotics found in low-income and developing countries; Antihypertensives and antidepressants are most common in high-income and developed countries.

Buy meat, fish, eggs today, you will "get" antibiotics!

Antibiotic resistance is not an issue to be taken lightly. People in the medical industry have all warned about its dangers.