Indian Pharmaceutical FirmsRelease Wide Mix of Drugs into Waterways

Indian drug makers, who produce large quantities of pharmaceuticals for the U.S. and other nations, are releasing extremely high concentrations of drugs into waterways in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, according to the Associated Press. The daily effluent from one wastewater treatment plant used by 90 Indian drug factories contained enough of the antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, to treat every person in a city of 90,000, the AP reported. Researchers found that the effluent in the city of Patancheru contained 21 different pharmaceutical ingredients, half of which were at the highest levels of drugs ever detected in the environment. The effluent, which seeps into local drinking wells, contained concentrations of drugs that were 150 times higher than the highest levels detected in waterways in the U.S. Doctors are concerned that the high concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water could create a number of health problems, including the proliferation of drug-resistant bacteria.