GLOBAL GUIDANCE ON ANTIBIOTIC POLLUTION - SCIENCE

GLOBAL GUIDANCE ON ANTIBIOTIC POLLUTION - SCIENCE

News: The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its first-ever global guidance titled “Guidance on Wastewater and Solid Waste Management for Manufacturing of Antibiotics”.

 

What’s in the news?

What is the Need for Guidelines?

  • Although residual levels of antibiotics have been detected in waterbodies downstream from manufacturing sites, antibiotic pollution from manufacturing remains largely unregulated.
  • Consumers also lack information on how to dispose of unused antibiotics properly.

 

About the Document

  • This document aims to reduce antibiotic pollution from drug manufacturing and combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
  • It offers a scientific framework for regulators, industry players and other stakeholders to implement effective controls against antibiotic pollution.
  •  It covers all steps from making active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to packaging.

 

Key Elements of the Document

  • Defining Targets: It sets targets based on risk assessments to control antimicrobial resistance and its environmental impact.
  • Risk Management: It uses tools like hazard analysis to meet these targets.
  • Independent Audits: It ensures targets are met through external checks.

 

Guiding Principles

  • Precautionary Approach for target setting.
  • Progressive Improvement towards meeting these targets.
  • Detailed Standards: It introduces a two-level approach: 
  1. ‘good’ and 
  2. ‘stringent’

      and specifies limits on the use of mass balance calculations.

 

Anti-Biotic Pollution And Anti-Microbial Resistance (Amr)

  • Pharmaceutical pollution in the country: Recently, widescale pharmaceutical pollution has been reported across the country, particularly in pharmaceutical hubs like Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
  • AMR is public health threat: AMR is often dubbed as one of the top 10 public health threats facing humanity. It occurs when disease-causing pathogens develop a resistance against the pharmaceuticals that could have neutralized them. In 2019, AMR accounted for more than half a million deaths in the European region and about five million globally.
  • Accumulation of AMR in ecosystem: The build-up of AMR can happen due to several factors across the human, animal, and environmental ecosystems.

 

How does Antibiotic Pollution occur from the Manufacturing Process?

  • Wastewater Discharge: Antibiotic plants release wastewater with residual antibiotics and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) into local water bodies, contributing to drug-resistant bacteria.
  • Improper Solid Waste Disposal: Unused antibiotics, raw materials, and by-products are often disposed of improperly, contaminating soil and groundwater.
  • Inadequate Treatment: Many facilities lack effective systems to treat pharmaceutical waste, allowing antibiotics to enter the environment.
  • Mass Balance Calculations: Inefficient systems or mismanagement can lead to unintentional antibiotic discharge during recycling and waste estimation.
  • Leaks and Spills: Accidental leaks or spills during manufacturing, transportation, or storage introduce antibiotics into ecosystems.
  • Runoff: Rainwater can carry antibiotics from waste into nearby rivers, lakes, or agricultural land, further contaminating the environment.

 

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/health/antibiotic-production-waste-fuelling-drug-resistant-bacteria-warns-who-124090500746_1.html