Unprecedented levels of antibiotics pollute India's water.

What did they do?

Swedish scientists measured antibiotics in surface and groundwater at the true source of these materials – near drug production facilities that supply the majority of the world's generic antibiotics.

The researchers analyzed surface waters – a sream that recieves outflow and two lakes that do not – and well water samples from six villages near Hyderabad, India, for 12 common antibiotics. These included ciproflaxin, enoacin, cetirizine, terbinafine and citalopram.

Samples were also collected from a water treatment plant that receives wastewater from 90 different drug manufacturing facilities.

What did they find?

They found shockingly high concentrations of several antibiotics and other drugs – concentrations 105 to 106 fold higher than previously reported levels from the US.

Drugs contaminated all of the wells tested. Some of the wells are currently used as drinking water sources for local villagers. The compounds ciproflaxin, enoacin, cetirizine, terbinafine and citalopram were detected at less than1 micrograms per liter (ug/L) in several of the wells.

High amounts of four antibiotics were measured in the lakes that do not take in wastewater from the sewage plant. The levels of ciprofloxacin (2.5 mg/L) and cetirizine (20 μg/L) in one of the lakes was higher than previously measured levels in the blood of people taking the medications, report the authors. This suggests there are other unknown sources – perhaps illegal dumping – of wastewater responsible for polluting the lakes.

In addition, effluents from a wastewater treatment had concentrations of ciprofloxin of 14 milligrams per liter (mg/L) and cetirizine as high as 1.2 mg/L. These concentrations are approaching therapeutic doses (concentratios that would kill some microorganisms outright).  Concentration reported in the US range in the nanograms per liter (ng/L), which are one million fold less.

What does it mean?

Enormous quantities of antibiotics are released into wastewater from drug factories that manufacture the bulk of the world's pharmaceutical antibiotics. The compounds contaminated nearby surface and ground water, exposing people and aquatic wildlife to the drugs.

These levels of contamination are alarming for two reasons. First, they may adversely affect human health following exposure to contaminated water.  The health effects of ongoing exposure to high concentrations of mixtures of pharmaceutical mixtures are largely unknown. This is especially true for a developing fetus, baby or child.

Second, they generate conditions that may foster development of antibiotic resistant strains of pathogens.

The authors conclude that "insufficient wastewater management in one of the world’s largest centers for bulk drug production leads to unprecedented drug contamination of surface, ground, and drinking water." They suggest that improved wastewater  treatment could reduce contamination levels.