Pharmaceuticals in Rivers Threaten World Health 河流中的药品残留威胁全球健康

Pollution of the world’s rivers from medicines and pharmaceutical products poses a “threat to environmental and global health”， a report says.

Paracetamol， nicotine， caffeine and epilepsy and diabetes drugs were widely detected in a University of York study.

Rivers in Pakistan， Bolivia and Ethiopia were among the most polluted. Rivers in Iceland， Norway and the Amazon rainforest fared the best.

The impact of many of the most common pharmaceutical compounds in rivers is still largely unknown.

But it is already well established that dissolved human contraceptives can impact the development and reproduction of fish， and scientists fear the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers could limit their effectiveness as medicines.

The study sampled water from more than 1，000 test sites in more than 100 countries.

Overall， more than a quarter of the 258 rivers sampled had what are known as “active pharmaceutical ingredients” present at a level deemed unsafe for aquatic organisms.

一份报告称，全世界河流中的药物污染对“环境和全球人类的健康造成了威胁”。

英国约克大学的一项研究表明，在世界多地的河流中检出对乙酰氨基酚、尼古丁、咖啡因以及治疗癫痫和糖尿病的药物成分。

巴基斯坦、玻利维亚和埃塞俄比亚的河流是污染最严重的。冰岛、挪威和亚马孙雨林的河流是污染最轻的。

河流中检测到的许多最常见的药品化合物会造成什么影响，在很大程度上还是未知数。

但是现在确定无疑的是，溶解在水中的人类避孕药会影响鱼类的发育和繁殖。河流中的抗生素日益增多，科学家担心这会限制抗生素作为药品的有效性。

该研究对上百个国家的1000多个测试点的水进行了抽样检测。

总体上，在抽样检测的258条河流中，超过四分之一的河流中含有所谓的“活性药物成分”，而且已经达到了对水生生物不安全的水平。

“What we know now is that even the most modern efficient wastewater treatment plants aren’t completely capable of degrading these compounds before they end up in rivers or lakes，” Dr John Wilkinson， who led the research， said.

The two most frequently detected pharmaceuticals were carbamazepine， which is used to treat epilepsy and nerve pain， and metformin， used to treat diabetes.

High concentrations were also found of so-called “lifestyle consumables” like caffeine [coffee] and nicotine [cigarettes] as well as the painkiller paracetamol.

In Africa， artemisinin—used in anti-malarial medicine—was also found in high concentrations.

The report says the increased presence of antibiotics in rivers could also lead to the development of resistant bacteria， damaging the effectiveness of medicines and ultimately posing “a threat to environmental and global health”.

The most polluted sites were largely in low- to middle-income countries， and in areas where there was sewage dumping， poor wastewater management and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

The full report has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

這项研究的带头人约翰·威尔金森博士说：“我们现在知道的是，在将废水排入河流或湖泊前，即使是最现代化的、最高效的废水处理厂也无法完全降解这些药品化合物。”

在河流中最常检测到的两种药物是治疗癫痫、神经疼痛的卡马西平和治疗糖尿病的二甲双胍。

河流中还发现了高浓度的咖啡因（来自咖啡）、尼古丁（来自香烟）等所谓的“生活消费品”和镇痛的对乙酰氨基酚。

在非洲，抗疟药所含的青蒿素在河流中的浓度也很高。

报告称，河流中越来越多的抗生素还会导致人类对抗生素的耐药力增强，药品的有效性减弱，最终会“对环境和全球人类的健康造成威胁”。

受污染最严重的河流大多在中低收入国家，以及那些倾倒污水、对废水管理不善和生产药品的地区。

完整的报告发表在期刊《美国科学院院报》上。

Word Study

fare /feə（r）/ v. 进行，进展

dissolve /dɪ'zɒlv/ v. 使（固体）溶解

resistant /rɪ'zɪstənt/ adj. 有抵抗力的

sewage /'suːɪdʒ/ n. （下水道的）污水，污物