Antibiotic resistance can be caused by water chlorination

Chlorine treatment of water may encourage the formation of new, unknown antibiotics that could enter the environment, contributing to antibiotic resistance, scientists have found. Chlorine is used to treat water to kill certain bacteria and other microbes in a process called water chlorination.

According to Healthaim.com, the research was presented at the 249th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society wherein discussion on the effects of chlorinated water on health and that it may encourage the formation of brand new antibiotics. A re-evaluation of wastewater treatment and disinfection practices is needed was suggested by the researchers.

“Pharmaceuticals that get out into the environment can harm aquatic life, making them react slowly in the wild and disrupting their hormone systems,” noted Olya Keen, Ph.D.  The organisms with increased antibiotic exposure can develop antibiotic-resistant microbes and can weaken an organism’s resistance to bacterial infections, and this includes humans.

“Treated waste water is one of the major sources of pharmaceuticals and antibiotics in the environment.  Wastewater treatment facilities were not designed to remove these drugs.  The molecules are typically very stable and do not easily biodegraded.  Instead, most just pass through the treatment facility and into the aquatic environment,” added Keen.

Keen and her team from the University of North Carolina ran several lab experiments on doxycycline and chlorinated water. They have found that exposing doxycycline to chlorine wastewater increased the antibiotic properties of their samples.

“Surprisingly, we found that the products formed in the lab sample were even stronger antibiotics than doxycycline, the parent and starting compound,” explains Keen. She suggested that the best solution is to decrease the amount of these drugs reaching a treatment plant.

Antibiotic resistance is a grave issue being discussed by experts worldwide.  Recently, a new research brought light to the effects of antibiotics use on livestock, that it can cause antibiotic resistance on humans who regularly consumes meat from exposed animals.

Currently, there is no regulation on the disposal of pharmaceuticals.  Dr. Keen suggests on collection and incineration of old pharmaceutical products, rather than disposal through the drainage system or throwing these in the trash, which may lead to further health problems.

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