Antibiotics in China's water causes concern

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Antibiotics in China's water causes concern

ResearchrevealinghighantibioticconcentrationinChina'ssurfacewaterhascausedwidespreadconcernoverthesafetyofdrinkingwater.

"Todrinkwatermeanstotakemedicine,"saidasatiricalpostingonTwitter-likemicrobloggingserviceWeibo.com. "Nowonderdoctorsalwaysprescribewaterasacureforfluandmanyotherdiseases."

China'ssurfacewaterwasfoundtocontain68kindsofantibioticswithmuchhigherconcentrationsthaninwaterofdevelopedcountries,accordingtoareportbytheChineseScienceBulletin,anacademicjournal.

Another90kindsofnon-antibioticmedicalingredientswerealsodetected,accordingtothereportreleasedlastweek.

Insomerivers,everyliterofsamplewaterwasfoundtohaveseveralhundrednanogramsofantibiotics,comparedwithlessthan20nanogramsinwaterofdevelopedcountries.

Thereport,issuedbytheEastChinaUniversityofScienceandTechnology,alongwithTongjiandTsinghuauniversities,analyzedpharmaceuticalsandpersonalcareproducts(PPCPs).

PPCPsincludevariouskindsofcosmetics,prescriptionmedicines,antibiotics,anti-inflammatoriesandsedatives.Chinaproducesmorethan33,000tonnesofPPCPseachyear,whichpartlyexplainswhysuchahighconcentrationwasfound,saidthereport.

ThemainsourcesofPPCPsaresewageplants,livestockwastewater,pharmaceuticalmanufacturers,hospitalsandcropland.

Officialfiguresshowed70percentofChina'sdrugsareantibiotics,comparedwith30percentinWesterncountries.

Ofalltheantibioticstaken,only20percentisabsorbedbyhumans.Therestisexcretedandisathreattonature,saidProf.YuFengwithChinaPharmaceuticalUniversityinNanjing,capitalofeastChina'sJiangsuProvince.

Atleast15,000tonnesofdrugsexpireandendupinbinseveryyear,saidProf.Yu. "Thewaste,ifnottreatedproperly,oftencontaminatessurfacewater."

Thewideuseofantibioticsintheanimalhusbandryindustryalsoworsenstheriskofwaterandsoilpollution,hesaid.

Thoughseveralenvironmentengineeringspecialistsclaimedthecurrentantibioticlevelsmaynotimmediatelybeathreattodrinkingwatersafety,healthprofessionalshavewarnedofloomingrisks.

PPCPsareinvisibleenemiestohumanbeings,saidProf.Yu. "Antibioticsinwater,whentakenbypeople,willcausedrug-resistanceandreducetheeffectofdrugsincaseofailments."

Ontheotherhand,whenantibioticsenterthefoodchainandaccumulateinthehumanbody,itwillimpairtheimmunityandimpactonfuturegenerations,hesaid.

"Itishightimetotightenantibioticmanagement,includinguseandreclamation,"saidSunBinyuan,anofficialwithAnhuiprovincialfoodanddrugadministrationinHefei. "Doctorsshouldfacepenaltiesincaseofantibioticabuse."

Meanwhile,hesaidChinashouldfollowtheEuropeanUnion'sexampletobanantibioticingredientsinfodder,andstepupresearchofsubstitutestoprotecttheinterestoffarmerswhileminimizingenvironmentalrisks.

InagovernmentworkreportdeliveredtotheNationalPeople'sCongressinMarch,PremierLiKeqiangannouncedaplanoncleanwater,partofthe"waronpollution".

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