New research has found high levels of antibiotics and other drugs have been found in water in the country’s most treasured and protected landscapes, raising concerns over antimicrobial resistance.
The research, published in August in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, revealed that many of the UK waterways, including protected rivers that run through national parks, were heavily contaminated by pharmaceuticals. The findings demonstrated how drug pollution now flows into even the most apparently untouched waterways, with transformative, potentially dangerous results for ecosystems and people.
“I don’t think anyone had really looked for pharmaceuticals in national parks,” says Prof Alistair Boxall, from the University of York and lead author of the paper. “The big new thing we’ve shown is that environments you think are pristine are not.”
Abstract
England’s 10 national parks are renowned for their landscapes, wildlife, and recreational value. However, surface waters in the national parks may be vulnerable to pollution from human-use chemicals, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), because of factors like ineffective wastewater treatment, seasonal tourism, a high proportion of elderly residents, and the presence of low-flow water bodies that limit dilution.
The present study determined the extent of API contamination in the English national parks by monitoring 54 APIs in 37 rivers across all national parks over two seasons. Results were compared to existing data sets for UK cities and to concentration thresholds for ecological impacts and antimicrobial resistance selection.
Results revealed widespread contamination of the national parks, with APIs detected at 52 out of 54 sites and in both seasons. Thirty-one APIs were detected, with metformin, caffeine, and paracetamol showing the highest mean concentrations and cetirizine, metformin, and fexofenadine being the most frequently detected.
While total API concentrations were generally lower than seen previously in UK cities, locations in the Peak District and Exmoor had higher concentrations than most city rivers. Fourteen locations had concentrations of either amitriptyline, carbamazepine, clarithromycin, diltiazem, metformin, paracetamol, or propranolol above levels of concern for fish, invertebrates, and algae or for selection for antimicrobial resistance.
Therefore, API pollution of the English national parks appears to pose risks to ecological health and potentially human health through recreational water use. Given that these parks are biodiversity hotspots with protected ecosystems, there is an urgent need for improved monitoring and management of pharmaceutical pollution and pollution more generally not only in national parks in England but also in similar environments across the world.
Covered in The Guardian