Background
Antibiotics are an important group of pharmaceuticals
used in health care for the treatment and prevention of
bacterial infections. Much of the antibiotic used in
humans and animals remains unmetabolized and thus a
significant amount is added to the environment via excretion.
This ultimately contributes to the residues of antibiotics
in recipient waters. Antibiotics might also be added
to the environment from pharmaceutical plants and as a
result of the dumping of unused antibiotics [1,2].
Besides antibiotics, resistant bacteria also enter into the
aquatic environment from various sources [3]. It is not
yet very clear whether the presence of antibiotics in the
aquatic environment results in developing resistance in
the bacteria found there. However, there is growing concern about the presence of antibiotic residues in the
aquatic environment and their impact on resistance
development, toxicity to aquatic communities and ultimately
to public health [3-5].