Investigation on Antibiotic Pollution in the Yangtze River Basin： Antibiotics were detected in the urine of pregnant children.
More than 80% of human immune function is based on the balance of intestinal flora. Abuse of antibiotics destroys a large number of probiotics and intestinal microecological balance, which creates conditions for the invasion and reproduction of bacteria in vitro.
At present, there are three major problems in antibiotic supervision in China: first, pollution control started late, drug production and use registration system is lacking, and load estimation is difficult; Second, environmental science is out of touch with hydrology, and it is difficult to trace the process; Third, the lack of advanced sewage treatment process makes it difficult to reduce the load.
At present, there is not enough research on the harm mechanism of antibiotics and insufficient supervision on antibiotic abuse in China. We should revise the standard as soon as possible, strictly control the source and strengthen the research to control the antibiotic pollution in rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
In recent years, with the continuous promotion of the great protection of the Yangtze River, the water quality in the Yangtze River basin has improved significantly. However, our reporter’s recent investigation found that the concentration of antibiotics in the Yangtze River basin was high and the aquatic ecosystem was destroyed. What is even more worrying is that related surveys show that about 40% of pregnant women in the Yangtze River Delta have detected antibiotics in their urine, and nearly 80% of children have detected veterinary antibiotics in their urine, and some of them have been banned in clinic, which may seriously damage human immunity.
Many authoritative experts have called for bringing the threat of antibiotics into the national security monitoring system as soon as possible, strictly controlling the use and discharge of antibiotics from the source, strengthening the research on the impact of pollution on human health, and improving the level of safety prevention and control.
Antibiotic pollution destroys water ecology, and the exposure risk of pregnant children increases.
The Yangtze River is an important water source, and its water quality is related to the health of hundreds of millions of people. With the rapid industrialization and urbanization of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the abuse of antibiotics has become increasingly prominent, which not only has a chronic toxic effect on aquatic organisms, but also tends to produce drug resistance and reduce human immunity.
A recent survey by the Yangtze River Protection and Green Development Institute of Hohai University shows that the average concentration of antibiotics in the Yangtze River is 156ng/L (ng/L), which is higher than that in some developed countries in Europe and America. The discharge of antibiotics in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River ranks among the top three in China, with an annual discharge intensity of about 60.0 kg/km2.
Destroy the ecology of the Yangtze River basin and have a chronic toxicological effect on aquatic organisms. Professor Chen Qiuwen, director of the Institute of Ecology of Nanjing Academy of Water Sciences and director of the Ecological Environment Center of Yangtze River Protection and Green Development Research Institute, found that antibiotics and their metabolites have potential toxicological risks to aquatic organisms such as microorganisms, phytoplankton and fish that are not resistant to drugs, destroying the energy transmission of aquatic food chain, and then affecting the health of high-trophic organisms and aquatic ecosystems.
"If the use of antibiotics is not strictly controlled, there will still be a growth trend in the future." Wang Zhiyuan, a senior engineer at the Institute of Ecology, Nanjing Academy of Water Sciences, believes that the "pseudo-persistence" of antibiotic analysis in drinking water sources in the main stream of the Yangtze River can have a chronic toxic effect on aquatic organisms, leading to antibiotics or resistance genes in aquatic organisms. The Yangtze River Delta region has a high intensity of human activities and a large amount of antibiotics, and the situation of antibiotic pollution prevention and control is more severe than that in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
Children and pregnant women are generally exposed, which destroys human immunity. In recent years, the School of Public Health of Fudan University investigated thousands of children aged 8-11 and 516 pregnant women. The results showed that 21 kinds of antibiotics for human use, veterinary use or human and veterinary use were detected in children’s urine samples, and 79.6% of school-age children detected one or more antibiotics in their urine, some of which were clinically banned. The exposure of veterinary antibiotics was related to children’s obesity and precocious puberty. In addition, 16 kinds of antibiotics were detected in the urine of pregnant women in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, and the detection rate of one or more antibiotics was 41.6%. The exposure of pregnant women was more common and the risk was greater.
Professor Chen Qiuwen believes that antibiotics can not be completely metabolized after entering human bodies and animals through drinking water or eating aquatic products. After a long period of intake, antibiotics follow the blood circulation and spread all over many organs, resulting in a gradual decline in immunity.
Experts believe that more than 80% of human immune function is based on the balance of intestinal flora. Abuse of antibiotics destroys probiotics in large quantities, which reduces the number of microorganisms sensitive to antibiotics in the gastrointestinal tract, while the flora with poor sensitivity takes the opportunity to multiply in large quantities, which destroys the microecological balance of the intestine and creates conditions for the invasion and reproduction of bacteria in vitro.
It is strictly forbidden to discharge Liu Daowei. Photo/This print
Two sources of antibiotics: aquaculture materials+medical discharge
Our reporter’s investigation found that antibiotics in water mainly come from hospital and pharmaceutical wastewater, aquatic products and livestock and poultry breeding wastewater, and landfill sites. Most antibiotics cannot be effectively removed under the existing technology, resulting in rivers and lakes becoming antibiotic and drug-resistant gene banks.
Researchers from the Yangtze River Protection and Green Development Research Institute found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River that in the process of breeding pigs, broilers and aquatic products, many farmers used to add various antibiotics to their feed in order to reduce the incidence of infection. For example, colistin sulfate and chlortetracycline are commonly used antibiotics in pig feed, and some one ton of feed can add one catty of antibiotics. Some fishery farmers admit: "Antibiotics must be mixed in the feed for raising fish and crabs, or you will definitely lose money if you die."
Wastewater from pharmaceutical factories and hospitals contains high concentrations of antibiotics, which causes serious pollution in river basins. The researchers found that there are sewage outlets of large pharmaceutical production enterprises 5 kilometers upstream of some drinking water sources. For example, there are three pharmaceutical companies near the water source in a city in the Yangtze River Delta, and there are six or seven pharmaceutical factories at the intersection of some tributaries of the Yangtze River. The wastewater contains high concentrations of antibiotics.
According to the investigation, in recent years, although the Yangtze River Basin has intensified its rectification efforts, many enterprises in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River have moved to the upper reaches or tributaries, and the pollution situation is grim.
The latest research by Zhu Yongguan, an academician of China Academy of Sciences, shows that most of the antibiotics ingested by animals enter the soil and water through animal feces and urine in the form of original drugs or metabolites, and they are toxic to the whole ecological environment through the food chain, affecting the normal life activities and functions of plants, soil microorganisms and animals. More seriously, the environmental residue of antibiotics will induce the selection of resistant bacteria, promote the lateral transfer of resistance genes, and lead to the spread of microbial drug resistance. However, microorganisms carrying resistance genes will further multiply when they spread to new environments, and may transfer resistance genes to pathogenic bacteria through the lateral transfer of genes, which will bring disastrous harm to health.
Strengthening antibiotic supervision and improving pollution disposal ability
Many authoritative experts pointed out that at present, there is not enough research on the harm mechanism of antibiotics and insufficient supervision on antibiotic abuse in China, which leads to the serious high antibiotic content in rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
Zhang Jianyun, an academician of China Academy of Engineering and dean of the Yangtze River Protection and Green Development Research Institute of Hohai University, believes that there are three major problems in antibiotic supervision in China: First, pollution control started late, drug production and use registration system is lacking, and load estimation is difficult; Second, environmental science is out of touch with hydrology, and it is difficult to trace the process; Third, the lack of advanced sewage treatment process makes it difficult to reduce the load.
"At present, there is a lack of research on the antibiotic exposure of all ages and people, the impact and mechanism of antibiotic exposure on the health of children and people, and the impact of antibiotic exposure from the environment and food on the microbial resistance of people." Professor Jiang Qingwu, former dean of the School of Public Health of Fudan University, said.
Relevant experts appealed that the risk of antibiotic pollution is related to people’s health and the long-term development of the Chinese nation. Standards should be revised as soon as possible, sources should be strictly controlled, research should be strengthened, and antibiotic pollution in the Yangtze River basin should be controlled.
Strengthen the construction of antibiotic monitoring capacity and revise relevant standards. Academician Zhang Jianyun pointed out that there is still no mandatory standard for the limit value of antibiotic occurrence level in surface water environment, and suggested that antibiotics should be included in the monitoring index in the national water environment monitoring platform for key control sections, and the reference index of typical antibiotics and the limit control index should be added to the current drinking water standard.
Reduce the use and discharge of antibiotics from the source. Professor Tang Hongwu, secretary of the Party Committee of Hohai University and executive director of the Yangtze River Protection and Green Development Research Institute, suggested that the mechanism of antibiotic use registration and discharge control should be improved, and a database of antibiotic pollution sources in river basins in China should be established, with emphasis on monitoring key risk sources that contribute a lot to antibiotic load, such as pharmaceutical factories and farms. At the same time, guide aquaculture practitioners to use antibiotics rationally, reduce the dosage, and put an end to the use of banned antibiotics.
Strengthen the research on the impact of antibiotic pollution on health and food, and improve the ability of pollution treatment. Professor Jiang Qingwu suggested that the environmental antibiotic residues and human antibiotic exposure and their impact on health should be comprehensively evaluated, with special attention to the impact on children’s growth and development, and the effects and mechanisms of environmental antibiotic residues on bacterial resistance and human health should be studied, so as to provide reliable basic data and theoretical basis for aquaculture, health supervision, food processing and environmental supervision policies.