Antibiotics, which are regarded as healers by humans, have turned out to be a curse for the hydrosphere. Recent studies have shown that antibiotics have largely contributed to the growing environmental crisis, especially by polluting freshwater resources like rivers and lakes. This problem not only persists in India but has also troubled Western countries, where the contamination caused by pharmaceutical drugs is a largely discussed concern. The harm produced by these antibiotics might get largely overlooked and dismissed as a trivial matter by us, but it is silently choking the aquatic life and slowly killing it.

Antibiotics in Rivers: A Global Problem

As mentioned earlier, India, along with other countries like the United Kingdom, China, and the United States of America, is grappling with the deadly effects of human antibiotics being disposed of in the rivers. Antibiotics have multiple entry points to enter a river – it can be through improper disposal of medication from hospitals and homes, traces of certain antibiotic chemicals present in human excreta, and also because of the removal of untreated waste by municipal corporations. Due to these reasons, an excess of unwanted chemical compounds gets accumulated in the rivers, leading to their contamination.

In India, for example, studies conducted in the Ganga River have shown a high percentage of antibiotic residues like ofloxacin and norfloxacin. These harmful chemicals were detected not only in the urban areas like Kanpur and Varanasi, but also in clean areas where the water was present. Moreover, a recent study by the Surveillance for Enteric Fever in India (SEFI) Network in 2024 showed that the city water had become resistant to a bacterium called ‘Salmonella Typhi’, which is responsible for the spread of typhoid fever. It is alarming news as the water is used for drinking and irrigation purposes by the people.

England has also detected pharmaceutical pollution in 52 out of 54 river sites found in its national parks. Painkillers, antidepressants, and antibiotic substances such as Trimethoprim and Sulfamethoxazole were found to be present at a terrifying level. The water is no longer deemed to be fit for consumption, as it is suspected that the source of these pollutants is the runoff water from the agricultural lands and leaking septic tanks. The famous Yellow River of China has experienced a spike in temperature due to a significant rise in antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), posing a threat to aquatic life and the environment.

Climate Change: An Added Problem

While antibiotic pollution is a growing concern, the climate change aggravated by it is one of its worst impacts. The rise of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is the major reason behind the global temperature change, rainfall patterns, and extreme weather conditions. Let’s discuss some of the serious issues caused by climate change:

• Flooding Leads to Spreading of Contaminants

Flood is a direct consequence of torrential rainfall, which is attributed to global warming. Due to flooding, a phenomenon called stormwater overflow comes into existence, which results in the release of untreated sewage, agricultural waste, hospital, and industrial effluents directly into the rivers. This helps in creating the perfect situation for the antibiotic-resistant microbes to thrive and grow in the waterbodies.

• Droughts Collect the Antibiotic Pollutants

It is both ironic and surprising that not only does excess water, but also the paucity of it, can have dangerous consequences. During the dry periods, the contaminants get the time to concentrate in the sediments and spread thoroughly in the area.

• Rise in Temperature and Impact on Humans

Global warming and the temperature rise go hand in hand. The unseasonal rains, scorching days, and freezing winters are all a cumulative outcome of the indirect effects of antibiotic pollution, although these effects have a direct consequence on humans. For example, it is seen that typhoid and skin infections have been on the rise in India during the summer seasons.

The aftermath of antibiotic pollution needs to be understood and addressed clearly so that the public becomes aware of this looming threat. It is no longer an issue that can be taken lightly, as its implications will be severe and life-threatening to our future generations.

Mitigation Strategies

The question of the hour, that is, how we can combat this dual danger of antibiotic pollution and the increase of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), needs to be addressed at the earliest. The government alone cannot fight this – it is also the responsibility of all the concerned stakeholders and citizens of the world to lend a helping hand to the authorities of their countries to achieve the aim of purifying the rivers.

The foremost priority must be to regulate the pharmaceutical waste of the industries. The governments will have to impose a strict policy on the industries to treat and neutralise their wastes before discharging them into the water bodies. Moreover, an upgrade of the sewage system is also important. The civic authorities, along with the concerned pharmaceutical industry, must ensure that they have an upgraded and advanced sewage system that filters out the pollutants.

In addition to the policies and guidelines of the government, public awareness campaigns are equally important to educate citizens on the consequences of antibiotic pollution. Organising community drives to explain about the initiatives, like safe disposal of medicines and syrups, and promoting access to clean drinking water can play a huge role.

We humans have already caused contamination to our waterbodies through the unchecked disposal of antibiotics. And the consequences of the same are right in front of us. The deadly effect of the pollutants has reached such an extent that the waterbodies are no longer responding to the treatments. This leaves us with the danger of infections and several other waterborne diseases. Studies from India and all over the world have recognised the urgency to address AMR. Today, we are no longer fighting only AMR, but also its direct and indirect implications, which are affecting both human life and aquatic life. Unless a serious step is taken to control this already worse situation, we will soon find ourselves running out of choices. Protecting our waterbodies is no longer an option, but the need of the hour to ensure a healthy environment for us and our future generations. 

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