Antibiotics in drinking water around poultry farms. Scientists raise the alarm
Scientists from the University of Warmia and Mazury examined the environmental impact of poultry farms. The results are highly alarming.
Researchers from the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM) investigated how a poultry farm affects the surrounding environment. They analysed soil, drinking water sources and boreholes to assess the extent of groundwater contamination in the 25 to 45 m depth.
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Poultry farms emit pollutants into all components of the environment: air, soils, surface water and groundwater, thus affecting humans, animals and plants.
Antibiotics in groundwater and drinking water
"We detected seven drugs in groundwater taken at a depth of 35 m," said PhD, Prof. Agnieszka Piotrowicz-Cieślak from the Department of Physiology, Genetics and Biotechnology of Plants at the UWM Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology. The findings were reported on the university's website.
Drinking water was also contaminated. "We analysed three local intakes and found antibiotics in each of them," Piotrowicz-Cieślak stressed. The researcher explained that even in low concentrations the antibiotics present in the environment contribute to the antibiotic resistance spread among the population, leading to the ineffectiveness of drugs when treatment is needed.
Not just antibiotics
The heavy use of antibiotics in industrial poultry farming is no secret. However, the scientists also discovered drugs they did not expect to find in the soil and water samples collected.
"Metoclopramide is an antiemetic drug that improves intestinal peristalsis. Carbamazepine is an anxiolytic and sedative - it permanently contaminates the environment because it resists degradation. It is the first time that the presence of carbamazapine in the vicinity of intensive poultry farms has been found," Piotrowicz-Cieślak explained.
The study was conducted on an average-sized farm, with five poultry houses, in which more than 5,000 chickens are kept. As Piotrowicz-Cieślak confessed, "it is very difficult to encourage farm owners to cooperate with scientists investigating environmental pollution, because only the producer who believes that he is acting in a way that does not raise any objections will let us in."
Poland is the largest poultry producer in Europe. As reported by agropolska.pl, in May 2022 there were 128 million broiler chicks on Polish farms kept, i.e. birds to be slaughtered for meat. Half of Polish poultry is exported. According to witrynawiejska.org.pl website, there are 39 million laying hens kept in cages as of 2023.
Source: naukawpolsce.pl
