Singer, A., Colizza, V., Schmitt, H. et al. (6 more authors) (2011) Assessing the ecotoxicologic hazards of a pandemic influenza medical response. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119 (8). pp. 1085-1090. ISSN 0091-6765
Abstract
Background: The global public health community has closely monitored the unfolding of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic to best mitigate its impact on society. However, little attention has been given to the impact of this response on the environment. Antivirals and antibiotics prescribed to treat influenza are excreted into wastewater in a biologically active form, which presents a new and potentially significant ecotoxicologic challenge to microorganisms responsible for wastewater nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and receiving rivers.
Objectives: We assessed the ecotoxicologic risks of a pandemic influenza medical response.
Methods: To evaluate this risk, we coupled a global spatially structured epidemic model that simulates the quantities of antivirals and antibiotics used during an influenza pandemic of varying severity and a water quality model applied to the Thames catchment to determine predicted environmental concentrations. An additional model was then used to assess the effects of antibiotics on microorganisms in WWTPs and rivers.
Results: Consistent with expectations, our model projected a mild pandemic to exhibit a negligible ecotoxicologic hazard. In a moderate and severe pandemic, we projected WWTP toxicity to vary between 0–14% and 5–32% potentially affected fraction (PAF), respectively, and river toxicity to vary between 0–14% and 0–30% PAF, respectively, where PAF is the fraction of microbial species predicted to be growth inhibited (lower and upper 95% reference range).
Conclusions: The current medical response to pandemic influenza might result in the discharge of insufficiently treated wastewater into receiving rivers, thereby increasing the risk of eutrophication and contamination of drinking water abstraction points. Widespread drugs in the environment could hasten the generation of drug resistance. Our results highlight the need for empirical data on the effects of antibiotics and antiviral medications on WWTPs and freshwater ecotoxicity.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2011, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | antibiotics; antiviral; bacterial pneumonia; ecotoxicity; epidemiologic modeling; influenza; pandemic; Tamiflu; wastewater treatment plant |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Mar 2017 15:11 |
Last Modified: | 20 Mar 2017 15:11 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1002757 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1289/ehp.1002757 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:113864 |