Antibiotics contamination in many rivers have crossed 'safe' level: Study

Stressing that antibiotic contamination is a global problem, researchers at the University of York have claimed that the concentration of antibiotics in some of the world's rivers have crossed 'safe' levels by upto 300 times.According to the study presented at a conference of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, the researchers looked for 14 commonly used antibiotics in rivers in 72 countries across six continents and found antibiotics at 65 per cent of the sites monitored.The team said that the 'safe' limits most frequently exceeded in Asia and Africa, but sites in Europe, North America and South America also had levels of concern showing that antibiotic contamination was a 'global problem'.Sites, where antibiotics exceeded 'safe' levels by the greatest degree were in Bangladesh, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan and Nigeria, while a site in Austria was ranked the highest of the European sites monitored.Dr John Wilkinson, from the University of York, who co-ordinated the ...