The presence of residues from pharmaceutical and medicinal products has been proven in countless environmental tests worldwide. They harm the environment and can produce undesired effects in the aquatic environment in particular. For human health as well, the risk of harmful effects cannot be ruled out. The traces demonstrated in individual drinking water tests do not indicate an immediate danger to health; long-term effects, however, have not yet been adequately researched. Through the use of antibiotics in human medicine and animal husbandry in particular, and the related resulting spread of resistant germs, there is a danger that future generations will experience a reduced availability of safe and effective antibiotics. For this reason the DBU supports: the search for opportunities to avoid the introduction of pharmaceuticals into the environment; an end to the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics; the improvement of hygiene measures; the development of environmentally-friendly medical products and pharmaceuticals; and increased environmental monitoring and -research into the related effects.
