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Category: News, Science published by Neha published: February 24, 2019, 9:25 pm EST Update: February 24, 2019, 9:28 pm EST
Washington: A new study reveals that over the past two decades, concentrations of pharmaceuticals have increased in freshwater sources around the world.
According to research done by environmental experts at Radboud University, ciprofloxacin antibiotic levels have reached the point of causing harmful ecological effects.
This research is the first to examine the risks of two particular drugs in global freshwater sources and is published in Environmental Research Letters.
Speaking about this, senior author Rik Oldenkamp said, "Getting an accurate picture of the environmental risks of pharmaceuticals around the world depends on the availability of data, which is limited."
"It is true that there are models, such as the ePiE model, that can give detailed forecasts of pharmaceutical concentrations in the environment, but they often only apply". where we already have a lot of information, such as rivers in Europe. . "
The new model developed by the researchers, based on an existing model with a lower resolution, makes it possible to establish global forecasts for individual ecoregions.
For the two pharmaceutical products studied in the study – carbamazepine, an antiepileptic, and ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic – the risks to the environment were found to be 10 to 20 times higher than in 2015.
The increased use of ciprofloxacin in humans has had a particularly high impact on a global scale.
"Concentrations of this antibiotic can be harmful to bacteria in the water, and these bacteria in turn play an important role in different nutrient cycles," said Oldenkamp, adding, "Antibiotics can also have an impact negative on the effectiveness of colonies of bacteria used in the treatment of wastewater. "
"Our model predicts a relatively high environmental risk for ecoregions in dry and densely populated areas such as the Middle East. Yet it is precisely in these areas that there is little data on pharmaceutical use and concentrations in surface water, "said Oldenkamp.
The researchers predicted human pharmaceutical consumption in these regions using regression models based on consumption from other countries, as well as socio-economic and demographic information, and linked with information related to drug use. Other factors such as water sources and the number of people having access to wastewater. treatment.
According to Oldenkamp, the model shows a particular need for new data in these types of domains.
"This model is really a starting point to better understand the environmental risks of pharmaceuticals around the world," said Oldenkamp.
Source: ANI
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