Estimation of the Amount of Disposed Antibiotics

Abstract

The impact of the antibiotics in the environment is not well understood yet. Moreover, the total amount of antibiotics that are ending up in the environment as solid waste is not known and cannot be rigorously determined as many variables are influencing the determination of their concentration. The present article is focused on the estimation of the amount of non-prescribed antibiotics that are used in different European countries. Particular attention is paid to the class of beta-lactams, as they are responsible for a considerate share of the antimicrobial resistance. The primary purpose was the estimation of the quantity of non-prescribed antibiotics that might reach the environment as solid waste. For the present study, we used the ECDC and EUROSTAT reported data.