Antibiotics in China's water causes concern
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Social
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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