Washington DC, May 12 -- Millions of kilometers of rivers around the world are carrying antibiotic pollution at levels high enough to promote drug resistance and harm aquatic life, a new study warns.

The study estimated the scale of global river contamination from human antibiotics use. Researchers calculated that about 8,500 tons of antibiotics -- nearly one-third of what people consume annually -- end up in river systems around the world each year even after in many cases passing through wastewater systems.

Published in PNAS Nexus, the study is the first to estimate the scale of global river contamination from human antibiotics use.

"While the amounts of residues from individual antibiotics translate into only very small concentratio...