antibiotic pollution of waterways

Humans pollute the world with many chemicals and some of these affect living things, even at very low concentrations. Endocrine-disrupting compounds, which interfere with hormones, are a good example, but recently more concern has been raised about pollution with antibiotics. The problem is that up to 80% of an antibiotic dose passes straight through the body. So most of the antibiotics used in medical treatment or during animal production may end up in waste water. And waste treatment plants generally don’t remove antibiotics very well. Antibiotic pollution also comes from spreading manure on crop land, or using sewage as fertilizer. Waste water released from hospitals and antibiotic production plants is another major source.

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