Environmental Impact of Ineffective Antibiotic Disposal: Strategies and Remedial Pathways: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

The discovery and use of antibiotics revolutionized medicine, significantly reducing mortality from infectious diseases. However, widespread and often indiscriminate antibiotic use has led to environmental contamination, fostering antibiotic-resistant bacteria and posing serious public health threats. This review explores the primary sources of environmental contamination, including improper disposal by households, healthcare institutions, agriculture, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. These sources contribute to the persistence of antibiotic residues and the proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in natural ecosystems. The environmental presence of antibiotics disrupts microbial communities, impacting ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling and biodiversity. Various remediation strategies exist to address this issue, ranging from physicochemical methods like adsorption and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) to bioremediation and electrochemical techniques. Bioremediation employs naturally occurring or engineered microorganisms to degrade or detoxify antibiotics, while electrochemical processes, including microbial electrochemical systems (MES) and cathodic degradation, use electrical currents to break down antibiotic molecules. These approaches have demonstrated effectiveness in different environments, but challenges remain in scaling up their application. Hybrid methods, integrating bioremediation with electrochemical treatments, show promise for enhanced contaminant removal, making them feasible for addressing complex contamination scenarios. Future research should focus on optimizing these methods for broader application, promoting a sustainable solution to mitigate the environmental impact of antibiotics and safeguard public health.