Antibiotics: Saving Lives, Harming Environments
Hey foodies, have you heard of the word “Fluoroquinolone”? Even though many people might not recognize it, it is essential in protecting livestock. These Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics that are used to improve the immunity of livestock, to improve the immunity of livestock, and to reduce rampant disease outbreaks (Landers et al., 2012).
Antibiotics: Where and How does it cause pollution?
As antibiotics serve to protect the health of animals and humans, sources of antibiotics can come from the pharmaceutical industry, hospitals, and the rearing of animals and aquaculture (Rusu et al., 2014). In this specific post, we will take a look at the farming industry and how the use of antibiotics affects the environment, leading to further impacts on human health.
Through large-scale rearing of animals and aquaculture, the use of antibiotics provides improved immunity for these animals. As such, this can increase the quantity yield of these animals as fewer animals fall ill and die prematurely. However, large-scale rearing causes the problem of antibiotic pollution through animal waste and the improper discharge of antibiotic products, especially in developing nations (Manyi-Loh et al., 2018). As such, these wastes often result in large water bodies located nearby to the farm as secondary pollutants.
Alternatively, the introduction of antibiotics into aquaculture can lead to a saturation of antibiotics inside the aquaculture pond, especially inland ponds. Therefore, these antibiotics can seep into the water systems, especially when the aquaculture ponds are drained.
Strengthening: Food & Parasites?
Antibiotic Resistance – How it Occurs?
Apart from the standard pollution impacts such as eutrophication, antibiotics create another problem for the ecosystem itself. As antibiotics enter these water bodies, it provides opportunities for bacteria to begin evolving a resistance towards these antibiotics. As such, these bacteria and parasites will therefore become more potent in causing problems towards human health risk when people consume water from these water bodies (Gothwal & Shashidhar, 2014).
Secondly, the improved immunity of the bacteria towards these antibiotics can also cause our antibiotics to become less potent against these bacteria or parasites (Gothwal & Shashidhar, 2014). As such, more antibiotics will be required to combat these bacterias, which can lead to higher levels of antibiotic pollution again, if not managed correctly. Thus, leading to an ever-increasing concentration of antibiotic levels in our eco-systems
Lastly, these bacteria can also make their way into our food chain, especially aqua-culture as the fishes ingest these bacteria. As aquatic animals tend to accumulate antibiotics in their gills, the potential for aquaculture food products to bio-accumulate antibiotics may cause health hazards in the form of food contamination. Furthermore, antibiotics can also biotransform into various – sometimes more toxic chemicals, therefore posing health risks when consumed (Liu et al., 2017).
Coalition Against Antibiotics
As we think of potential alternatives to antibiotics in farming, it is important to understand the source of pollution by antibiotics in the farming industry. As the majority of these pollutants often come from the mismanagement by the farms to properly dispose of animal wastes and wastewater, it is important that the farmers understand the impacts that they cause by releasing these antibiotics into the wild. As such, there is a coalition formed by the European Union to limit, control and monitor these antibiotic uses (Rusu et al., 2014). This can therefore reduce discharges, which allows for the control of pollution caused by antibiotics. Alternatively, the coalition is also looking at options to reduce the health risks of these antibiotics, by creating other less harmful forms of antibiotics for the use of farming, therefore reducing the impacts of accidental discharges into the environment.
Conclusion
All in all, this article looks into how antibiotics react with the environment, especially in farming. As most of these pollution occur in the form of accidental discharges, it is important that we control and manage the use of antibiotics in the future. However, as the majority of farmers are uneducated on the impacts of accidental discharges, it is imperative that we form a coalition to educate and reduce these discharges by farmers. That being said, antibiotics are essential to both farming and humans, hence, we can only be mindful of how we manage these discharges.
That’s it for today’s foodies, do remember our theme for today, which is to be mindful of your own wastes!
Food Detective Out,
Wen Hong
References
Gothwal, R., & Shashidhar, T. (2014). Antibiotic pollution in the environment: A review. CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water, 43(4), 479-489. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201300989
Landers, T. F., Cohen, B., Wittum, T. E., & Larson, E. L. (2012). A review of antibiotic use in food animals: Perspective, policy, and potential. Public Health Reports, 127(1), 4-22. https://doi.org/10.1177/003335491212700103
Liu, S., Zhao, H., Lehmler, H., Cai, X., & Chen, J. (2017). Antibiotic pollution in marine food webs in Laizhou Bay, north China: Trophodynamics and human exposure implication. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(4), 2392-2400. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b04556
Manyi-Loh, C., Mamphweli, S., Meyer, E., & Okoh, A. (2018). Antibiotic use in agriculture and its consequential resistance in environmental sources: Potential public health implications. Molecules, 23(4), 795. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23040795
Rusu, A., Hancu, G., & Uivaroşi, V. (2014). Fluoroquinolone pollution of food, water, and soil, and bacterial resistance. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 13(1), 21-36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-014-0481-3
Images Obtained from:
https://theconversation.com/how-to-train-the-bodys-own-cells-to-combat-antibiotic-resistance-106052
