Pollution of many of the world’s rivers by drugs and other related products poses a serious threat to human health and the environment, according to a new international scientific study highlighting the magnitude and importance of the problem on a global scale.
They were found in more than one in four rivers around the world, from where samples were taken concentrations of drugs at potentially toxic levels.
In all, more than 1,000 measurements were made on 258 rivers in more than 100 countries around the world, including the Thames in London, the Mississippi and the Amazon. The presence of 61 active drugs was detected, such as various antibiotics, metformin (antidiabetic drug), carbamazepine (antiepileptic), propranolol (β-inhibitor for hypertension), loratadine (antihistamine, antiallergic, antiallergic, antiallergic) malaria), etc., as well as nicotine and caffeine.
Investigators of the British University of Yorkled by Dr. John Wilkinson, who published the journal in the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS), found that:
– Medicinal pollution pollutes river waters on all continents.
– Low- and middle-income countries have a proportionately greater problem in their rivers than the richer countries.
– The older the average age of the inhabitants in an area and also the higher the unemployment and poverty, the more noticeable is the problem of medicinal pollution of the rivers.
The most polluted rivers are in sub-Saharan Africa, South America and South Asia. Rivers in Pakistan, Bolivia and Ethiopia have the biggest problem. In contrast, rivers in Iceland, Norway and the Amazon rainforest have the smallest.
– The activities that are mainly responsible for the pharmaceutical pollution, are the dumping of waste on the banks of the rivers, the emptying of the contents of septic tanks in the rivers, the insufficient treatment of the waste of the pharmaceutical companies etc.
The researchers said that medical pollution of the rivers could exacerbate the problem of germs that are resistant to antibiotics and other drugs.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have a vast amount of experience in covering health news. I am also an author at News Bulletin 247. I am highly experienced and knowledgeable in this field. I am a hard worker and always deliver quality work. I am a reliable source of information and always provide accurate information.
