Drugs are polluting rivers and adding to the resistance crisis as well as affecting riverine ecosystems.
Pharmaceutical pollution in the world’s rivers is threatening environmental and human health and the attainment of UN goals on water quality, with developing countries the worst affected, a global study warns.
Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) could be contributing to antimicrobial resistance in microorganisms, and may have unknown long-term effects on human health, as well as harming aquatic life, according to the report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
APIs – the chemicals used to make pharmaceutical drugs – can reach the natural environment during their manufacture, use and disposal, according to the study.
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