Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers

Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Fil: Boxall, Alistair B.A.. University of York; Reino Unido

Fil: Kolpin, Dana W.. Central Midwest Water Science Center; Estados Unidos

Fil: Leung, Kenneth M.Y.. City University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong

Fil: Lai, Racliffe W.S.. City University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong

Fil: Galban Malag, Cristobal. Universidad Mayor; Chile

Fil: Adell, Aiko D.. Universidad Andrés Bello; Chile

Fil: Mondon, Julie. Deakin University; Australia

Fil: Metian, Marc. International Atomic Energy Agency; Mónaco

Fil: Marchant, Robert A.. University of York; Reino Unido

Fil: Bouzas Monroy, Alejandra. University of York; Reino Unido

Fil: Cuni Sanchez, Aida. University of York; Reino Unido

Fil: Coors, Anja. ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH; Alemania

Fil: Carriquiriborde, Pedro. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente; Argentina

Fil: Rojo, Macarena Gisele. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química. Centro de Investigaciones del Medio Ambiente; Argentina

Fil: Gordon, Chris. University of Ghana; Ghana

Fil: Cara, Magdalena. Agricultural University of Tirana; Albania

Fil: Moermond, Monique. Imperial College London; Reino Unido

Fil: Luarte, Thais. Universidad Andrés Bello; Chile

Fil: Petrosyan, Vahagn. Yerevan State University; Armenia

Fil: Perikhanyan, Yekaterina. Yerevan State University; Armenia

Fil: Mahon, Clare S.. University of Sydney; Australia

Fil: McGurk, Christopher J.. University of Sydney; Australia

Fil: Hofmann, Thilo. Universidad de Viena; Austria

Fil: Kormoker, Tapos. Patuakhali Science and Technology University; Bangladesh

Fil: Iniguez, Volga. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés; Bolivia

Fil: Guzman Otazo, Jessica. Karolinska Huddinge Hospital. Karolinska Institutet; Suecia

Fil: Tavares, Jean L.. Instituto Federal De Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasil

Fil: de Figueiredo, Francisco Gildasio. Instituto Federal De Educacao, Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasil

Fil: Razzolini, Maria T.P.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil