Pharmaceutical manufacturing waste, discarding of unused medicines, excretion of residues after usage, and runoff from farms, are all sources of environmental antimicrobial contamination across the globe, which contributes to the growing problem of resistance. Researchers at Imperial College London are using systems-level approaches to assess and manage the risk of AMR from the environment. Example projects include: 

AMRWatch - Defining the AMR burden of antimicrobial manufacturing waste

AMRWatch is a NERC-funded project that is investigating emissions from manufacturing sites in the Indian regions of Puducherry and Chennai. The project assesses the link between antibiotics manufactured by different methods, contamination levels in manufacturing wastes and downstream locations by sampling for antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in waters, sediments, animals, and humans to evaluate the AMR risk in this area. Methods for measuring different antibiotics in environmental samples have been developed and state-of-the-art bacterial, genomic and metagenomic studies are taking place to identify levels of resistance and the degree of association between factors. The work has the capacity to develop guidelines and systems around monitoring and regulating antibiotic discharges from manufacturing, which will be critical for global efforts to tackle AMR. 

Researchers on this project:

• • Professor Nick Voulvoulis (Centre for Environmental Policy)
  • Professor Shiranee Sriskandan (Department of Infectious Disease)
  • Collaborators in India: Pondicherry University, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sai Mirra Innopharm Pvt Ltd, Banaras Hindu University, Aarupadai Veedu Medical College, 

Read more

• Visit the AMR Watch website
• Read a recent policy brief that offers more context about the challenges the project aims to address: Manufacturing antibiotics: antibiotic resistance and aquatic ecotoxicity in the environment (July 2023)

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Examining chemical contaminants in London’s waterways throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study showed how pollutants entering the capital’s river systems – including traces of prescription medications such as antibiotics and antidepressants – changed over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers on this project:

• Professor Leon Barron (School of Public Health)
• Melanie Egli (School of Public Health)
• Professor Guy Woodward (Department of Life Sciences)

Read more

• • Read the publication (Environ Int, 2023), 'A One-Health environmental risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern in London's waterways throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
  • Read the Imperial News story covering the research
  • Watch Professor Leon Barron describe the finding from this study (via X)