Scientists sound the alarm on pharmaceutical pollution crisis

Image credit : WHO

A few days back I watched a video by chance on YouTube where a housewife was 'giving advice' to everybody on how to kill bacteria in a commode/potty. She told people to put unused antibiotics into commodes to make them clean!

As a Microbiologist, I was shocked to watch this from an ignorant housewife.

There are two reasons for my distress.

*1. People stop using antibiotics as soon as they feel a bit okay. This is not correct because the bacteria will develop resistance if you stop taking antibiotics in the middle (this is what the housewife meant by 'unused antibiotics') of a course.

How quickly you get better after antibiotic treatment varies. It also depends on the type of infection you’re treating.

Most antibiotics should be taken for 7 to 14 days. In some cases, shorter treatments work just as well. Your doctor will decide the best length of treatment and correct antibiotic type for you.

Even though you might feel better after a few days of treatment, it’s best to finish the entire antibiotic regimen in order to fully resolve your infection. This can also help prevent antibiotic resistance. Don’t stop your antibiotic regimen early unless your healthcare professional says you can do so.

*2. If you put antibiotics in potties and commodes, this will lead to antibiotic resistance.

I told the housewife to remove the video after telling her why she was wrong but she didn't.

I posted a comment below the video asking people not to follow this advice and the channel owner deleted it!

I complained to YouTube but there wasn't any reply from them.

Hmmm!

This is what happens with ignorant housewives and unresponsive/ uncaring social media.

Scientists' warnings are being ignored by everybody involved on You tube!

Then I took my fight to other social media sites and tried to educate people with great success.

Now why am I telling this story?

Because Scientists are again sounding alarms!

Scientists sound the alarm on pharmaceutical pollution crisis

Our increasing dependency on pharmaceuticals comes at a major environmental cost, researchers have warned.

In an article published in the journal Nature Sustainability, researchers warn that discharges to the environment during drug production, use, and disposal have resulted in ecosystems around the globe being polluted with mixtures of pharmaceuticals, posing a growing danger to wildlife and human health.

While emphasizing that pharmaceuticals are indispensable in modern health care and will remain crucial in the future, the researchers highlight the need for designing and manufacturing more sustainable drugs to combat this issue at source.

A wide variety of drugs have now been detected in environments spanning all continents on Earth.

Exposure to even trace concentrations of some of these drugs can have severe impacts on the health of wildlife and human populations, and has already led to severe population crashes in vultures throughout India and Pakistan, as well as widespread sex-reversal of fish populations exposed to the human contraceptive pill.

Pharmaceutical pollution is a complex problem that demands a multifaceted solution. So far, environmental protection efforts have mainly been focused on upgrading wastewater treatment infrastructure to remove drugs before release into waterways more effectively.

Despite being an important part of an overall solution, wastewater treatment is unable to address this issue in isolation.

In the article, 17 leading international scientists call for an increased focus on designing greener and more sustainable pharmaceuticals to tackle this issue at its source.

Tomas Brodin et al, The urgent need for designing greener drugs, Nature Sustainability (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01374-y

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After reading this somebody sent me this question:

But mam, what to do with the out dated pills, syrups at home now? How do the Hospitals dispose them without affecting environment? How do the time expired tablets/ syrups affect the environment if we throw them in plant vegetation?

My reply: 

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs flushed down the toilet can leach into the ground and seep into ground water. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs poured down the sink or flushed down the toilet can pass through the treatment system and enter rivers and lakes. They may flow downstream to serve as sources for community drinking water supplies.

DON’T: Flush expired or unwanted prescription and over-the-counter drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so.

DO: Return unwanted or expired prescription and over-the-counter drugs to a drug take-back program. They will dispose them safely.

Some old age homes and orphanages collect unwanted medicines and distribute them to poor if they are still within expiry dates. After the death of my mother, I gave all her good medicines to orphanages/old age homes.

Even medical shops take them if they are still usable.