Rivers of poison overflowing with drugs
The rivers of the world are coursing with unhealthy levels of antibiotics, over-the-counter and prescription drugs waste, a top-level UK study has revealed. In the study , researchers analysed samples from 711 sites across rivers in 72 countries for 14 commonly used antibiotics and found that 65% of them were contaminated with antibiotics — some up to 300 times the “safe” levels. This worst-case scenario was found at a site on the river Brahmaputra in Bangladesh where concentrations of the drug Metronidazole — an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections including skin and mouth infections. The samples included some of the world's best-known rivers — including the Brahmaputra, Chao Phraya, Danube, Mekong, Seine, Thames, Tiber and Tigris. According to the reports, dangerous levels of contamination were most frequently found in Asia and Africa. However, while the sites in Bangladesh, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan and Nigeria were found to be exceeding safe ...