Health Alert: Rivers a Factor in Antibiotic Resistance.

Flushing medications down the drain may be a major contributor to antibiotic resistance. Researchers found that water and sediment samples from rivers and waterways close to certain types of wastewater treatment plants had high levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Study co-author Dr. Elizabeth Wellington writes, “Antibiotic resistance naturally occurs in the environment, but we don’t yet know how human… waste is affecting its development… We’ve found that wastewater discharges affect resistance levels, and that improvements in our treatment processes could hold the key to reducing the prevalence of resistant bacteria in the environment.” The ISME Journal, February 2015