{"id":24088,"date":"2025-05-12T15:47:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/?p=24088"},"modified":"2025-05-12T15:47:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:47:40","slug":"new-study-exposes-global-antibiotic-pollution-in-rivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/new-study-exposes-global-antibiotic-pollution-in-rivers\/","title":{"rendered":"New Study Exposes Global Antibiotic Pollution in Rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-blockquote uagb-block-e7eb3fc3 uagb-blockquote__skin-border uagb-blockquote__stack-img-none\"><blockquote class=\"uagb-blockquote\"><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__content\">A McGill University-led study has discovered alarming levels of antibiotic pollution in rivers globally, emphasizing the need for robust monitoring and mitigation strategies to protect aquatic life and public health.<\/div><footer><div class=\"uagb-blockquote__author-wrap uagb-blockquote__author-at-left\"><\/div><\/footer><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-0dfbf163 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\"><div style=\"font-size:16px;\" class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\">The University Network<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share uagb-social-share__outer-wrap uagb-social-share__layout-horizontal uagb-block-ee584a31\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-ec619ce7\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"facebook\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M504 256C504 119 393 8 256 8S8 119 8 256c0 123.8 90.69 226.4 209.3 245V327.7h-63V256h63v-54.64c0-62.15 37-96.48 93.67-96.48 27.14 0 55.52 4.84 55.52 4.84v61h-31.28c-30.8 0-40.41 19.12-40.41 38.73V256h68.78l-11 71.69h-57.78V501C413.3 482.4 504 379.8 504 256z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-32d99934\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"twitter\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path d=\"M389.2 48h70.6L305.6 224.2 487 464H345L233.7 318.6 106.5 464H35.8L200.7 275.5 26.8 48H172.4L272.9 180.9 389.2 48zM364.4 421.8h39.1L151.1 88h-42L364.4 421.8z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-social-share-child uagb-ss-repeater uagb-ss__wrapper uagb-block-1d136f14\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__link\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"linkedin\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-wrap\"><span class=\"uagb-ss__source-icon\"><svg xmlns=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\"><path d=\"M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Millions of kilometers of rivers around the globe are contaminated by antibiotics at levels sufficient to promote drug resistance and harm aquatic life, according to a recent study led by McGill University. <a href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pnasnexus\/article\/4\/4\/pgaf096\/8113371\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Published<\/a> in PNAS Nexus, this study is the first to provide an estimate of the global scale of river contamination caused by human antibiotic use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research reveals that approximately 8,500 tonnes of antibiotics \u2014 nearly one-third of the global annual consumption \u2014 contaminate river systems each year, even after passing through wastewater treatment facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;While the amounts of residues from individual antibiotics translate into only very small concentrations in most rivers, which makes them very difficult to detect, the chronic and cumulative environmental exposure to these substances can still pose a risk to human health and aquatic ecosystems,&#8221; lead author Heloisa Ehalt Macedo, a postdoctoral fellow in geography at McGill, said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Using a global model validated by field data from nearly 900 river locations, the research highlighted that amoxicillin \u2014 the world&#8217;s most-used antibiotic \u2014 is prevalent at risky levels, especially in Southeast Asia where increasing use and inadequate wastewater treatment exacerbate the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This study is not intended to warn about the use of antibiotics \u2014 we need antibiotics for global health treatments \u2014 but our results indicate that there may be unintended effects on aquatic environments and antibiotic resistance, which calls for mitigation and management strategies to avoid or reduce their implications,&#8221; added co-author Bernhard Lehner, a professor in global hydrology in McGill&#8217;s Department of Geography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Significantly, the study did not account for antibiotics from livestock or pharmaceutical factories, both of which are significant pollutant sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Our results show that antibiotic pollution in rivers arising from human consumption alone is a critical issue, which would likely be exacerbated by veterinarian or industry sources of related compounds,&#8221; added co-author Jim Nicell, an environmental engineering professor at McGill. &#8220;Monitoring programs to detect antibiotic or other chemical contamination of waterways are therefore needed, especially in areas that our model predicts to be at risk.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcgill.ca\/newsroom\/channels\/news\/antibiotics-human-use-are-contaminating-rivers-worldwide-study-shows-365280\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">McGill University<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Millions of kilometers of rivers around the globe are contaminated by antibiotics at levels sufficient to promote drug resistance and harm aquatic life, according to a recent study led by McGill University. Published in PNAS Nexus, this study is the first to provide an estimate of the global scale of river contamination caused by human [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-no-separators","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[65],"class_list":["post-24088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-mcgill-university"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"The University Network","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/author\/funky_junkie\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Millions of kilometers of rivers around the globe are contaminated by antibiotics at levels sufficient to promote drug resistance and harm aquatic life, according to a recent study led by McGill University. Published in PNAS Nexus, this study is the first to provide an estimate of the global scale of river contamination caused by human&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24088"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24142,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24088\/revisions\/24142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}