Almost HALF of the world’s rivers contain dangerous levels of prescription drugs including antidepressants, antihistamines and painkillers, 研究は警告します
When you think of pollution in rivers, it’s likely visions of plastic bottles and packaging will spring to mind.
But a new study has warned that almost half of the world’s rivers are also teeming with prescription drugs.
Researchers from the University of York found unsafe levels of drugs including antidepressants, antihistamines, and painkillers in 43.5 のパーセント 1,052 sites tested across 104 国.
‘Our findings show that a very high proportion of rivers around the world are at threat from pharmaceutical pollution,’ said Alejandra Bouzas-Monroy, a co-author of the study.
‘We should therefore be doing much more to reduce the emissions of these substances into the environment.’
A new study has warned that almost half of the world’s rivers are teeming with over-the-counter and prescription drugs. 写真: a river in Nairobi
Researchers from the University of York found unsafe levels of drugs including antidepressants, antihistamines, and painkillers in 43.5 のパーセント 1,052 sites tested across 104 国
以上 100,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical products are consumed globally every year, による European Environmental Bureau (EEB).
During their production, use, and disposal, pharmaceutical drugs are released into rivers, where they have the potential to adversely affect organisms including fish and aquatic plants.
この研究で, the team set out to understand the extent of this pharmaceutical pollution around the world.
‘This is the first truly global assessment of the impacts of single pharmaceuticals and mixtures of pharmaceuticals in riverine systems,’ Ms Bouzas-Monroy said.
The team sampled water at 1,052 sites across 104 countries including the UK, オーストラリア, フランス, とアメリカ.
The results revealed that 43.5 per cent of the sites had ‘concerning’ concentrations of 23 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
This included substances from antidepressants, antimicrobials, antihistamines, benzodiazepine and painkillers.
The sites with the highest levels were situated in Africa – with a river in Nairobi having the highest levels of all the sites, 研究者によると.
‘The locations with the highest mixture HQs were situated in Africa and were primarily associated with three sampling campaigns (Lagos in Nigeria, Nairobi in Kenya, and Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) where garbage disposal, sewage discharge points, dumping of raw sewage by exhauster trucks, and pharmaceutical manufacturing activities were observed,’ 成長中のディスクが溶液からモノマーを吸収し、それらを2D表面に自動テンプレート化できるようにします.
アジアで, the highest levels were in Lahore, in South America they were in La Paz, and in Europe they were in Tubingen.
心配そうに, previous studies have shown how exposure to high levels of APIs can affect organisms including fish and algae.
'例えば, concentrations of antibiotics in surface waters have been shown to exceed PNEC [predicted no‐effect concentrations] values in European and Chinese surface,’ 研究者は説明した.
‘The anticonvulsant carbamazepine has been reported to occur at concentrations of concern for acute and chronic effects in fish, Daphnia, and algae in Africa, 中国, [object Window].
アジアで, the highest levels were in Lahore, in South America they were in La Paz, and in Europe (map pictured) they were in Tubingen, ドイツ
‘Stimulants have been highlighted as a group of concern in terms of aquatic impacts in Poland, イスラエル, China and Italy.’
The researchers hope their findings will encourage nations to take better action to tackle pharmaceutical pollution in rivers around the world.
‘Overall, the results show that API pollution is a global problem that is likely negatively affecting the health of the world’s rivers,’ the team concluded.
‘Work is urgently needed to tackle the problem and bring concentrations down to an acceptable level.’
心配そうに, studies have shown that the presence of antibiotics in the environment contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the major emerging threats to human health today.
‘AMR burden in terms of lives lost, morbidity, and healthcare expenses and productivity losses is much greater than currently available statistics suggest – 25,000 での死亡 2007 – and projections estimate a 15 fold increase in morbidity in Europe due to AMR by 2050 と 390,000 死亡者（数,’ the EEB said.
