Environmental Impact of Antibiotics and Tetracycline on Environmental Systems

Large-scale production of antibiotics began in the 1940’s. Almost immediately, the use of antibiotics spread to agricultural uses. In livestock, antibiotics are used to reduce illness. However, a far more common use is to increase feed efficiency, resulting in better profits. (Coghlan, 1996 and Bonner, 1997) With the widespread use of antibiotics has come a variety of concerns. Primarily, fear that microbial resistance will render antibiotics useless against common illnesses. (UNEP/DEWA/Earthwatch 1996-2005) In the past decades, a large increase in the number of multi-resistant microbes has been discovered. In these cases, the antibiotic treatments have had significantly poorer results. One possible explanation for the development of this resistance is the excessive use of antibiotics. Particular concern arises in respect to agricultural uses since in these cases it is being used for productivity enhancement instead of saving lives. A commonly used antibiotic on the market is Tetracycline. In a variety of forms, tetracycline is used for both human and animal purposes. Research has shown this tetracycline can be excreted through feces and urine. Different concerns arise from the various ways we treat agricultural waste and human waste. However, it is evident that agricultural waste remains less impacted by the treatment process. In turn the environmental concern on this type of usage has only increased. The agricultural impact of antibiotics on microbes in the environment is just beginning to be examined, but at least in the case of Tetracycline, appears to increase the microbial resistance to the drug. Examination and consideration of the problems with current methods of livestock waste disposal may be a necessity to reduce the risk of human exposure to multi-resistant microbes.