Antibiotics, antidepressants and other drugs frequently leach into the environment, where they can impact ecosystems and human health.
A new modeling study estimates that every year, thousands of tons of the most-used antibiotics are released into the world’s rivers from human consumption alone—and 11 percent of them reach the world’s oceans or inland sinks. Researchers have also discovered widespread contamination of aquatic ecosystems with antidepressants, heart medications and other drugs in recent years.
A study published in April zeroed in on antibiotics specifically and found similar results. Researchers used a model to estimate contamination across the world’s rivers based on the annual human consumption of the 40 most-used antibiotics, including ceftriaxone, cefixime and amoxicillin (anyone who has had a bacterial infection has probably heard of this one). They found that 8,500 tons of antibiotics leach into the world’s river system, with the potential of reaching the ocean. This number doesn’t include contamination from manufacturers or the agricultural industry.
Bold part is interesting considering that animal agriculture uses about 70% of all antibiotics produced (80% in the USA) and probably a similar fraction of vaccines. But I suppose that no one really wants to hear about that.