Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and other active pharmaceutical ingredients have been "invisibly" polluting rivers in Bangladesh, thereby impacting marine life and threatening fishing communities
NEW DELHI — Antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and other active pharmaceutical ingredients have been "invisibly" polluting rivers in Bangladesh, thereby impacting marine life and threatening fishing communities, a media report said.
Unlike plastic waste floating on a river or black industrial sludge entering a canal, pharmaceutical residues may not be seen, smelled or tasted. Yet they can remain biologically active in the environment, according to a report published in the Bangladeshi daily 'Prothom Alo'.
Antibiotics, hormones, anti-inflammatory drugs, and other active pharmaceutical ingredients can interact with aquatic organisms and microorganisms long after they have been discharged, environmental scientist Prof. Dr Shahriar Hossain mentioned in the report.
Previous research has already detected pharmaceutical compounds in Bangladeshi rivers, including in the Old Brahmaputra. Similarly, a 2026 study examining water sources in Gazipur found pharmaceutical compounds and heavy metals in hospital wastewater, pharmaceutical-industry effluents, municipal wastewater and river water.
The 'Prothom Alo' report described the first major source of the pollution as "pharmaceutical manufacturing".
The environmentalist highlighted that the wastewater generated from drug production in the country contains active pharmaceutical ingredients, solvents, chemical intermediates, even metals, and other contaminants. "Where effluent-treatment systems are absent, inadequate or poorly operated, these substances can enter surrounding waterways."
According to Dr Hossain, the treatment system that cannot remove biologically active pharmaceutical compounds is "not an adequate solution".
The report identified the second major source of the pollution as unused and expired medicines, discarded in households.
"Once pharmaceutical products enter sewage systems, they may eventually reach rivers and other water bodies, particularly where wastewater treatment is inadequate," it stated.
Further, hospitals and clinics use large quantities of antibiotics, painkillers, hormones, cancer medicines and other pharmaceutical products which inevitably become expired, unused or contaminated. Without proper segregation, collection, treatment and disposal, pharmaceutical waste can enter general healthcare waste streams and eventually reach wastewater systems and surface waters.
"Perhaps the most dangerous dimension of pharmaceutical pollution is antimicrobial resistance, or AMR," the report said.
Maintaining that antibiotics are designed to kill or inhibit bacteria, Dr Hossain noted: "When antibiotic residues enter the environment, they can create conditions that favour the survival and proliferation of resistant organisms."
Moreover, the pharmaceutical compounds can affect marine life by interfering with the endocrine systems of fish and other aquatic organisms.
"Hormonal substances can potentially influence reproduction, development and behaviour. Other pharmaceutical residues can affect microorganisms and alter ecological relationships."
Since consumption of fish is widely prevalent in Bangladesh, the fishing communities are "particularly vulnerable" as environmental degradation can potentially threaten their health and income.
The author urged authorities in Bangladesh's pharmaceutical sector to invest in cleaner production, advanced wastewater treatment, pollution prevention, safer chemical management and transparent environmental reporting.
"Corporate responsibility cannot stop at producing a quality medicine. It must extend to the entire life cycle of that medicine," Dr Hossain emphasised.