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Chapter 8: Environment, Health and Wellbeing
In the case of the agriculture and food production sector,
antimicrobials are not only used therapeutically for treating
infection but, in some instances, are also used in healthy
animals for growth promotion and prophylactically to
avoid the development of infection within a herd or flock.
Not only does prolonged use create ideal conditions for
the development of AMR but, similar to the healthcare
situation, a significant quantity of active antimicrobials
is excreted in urine and manure, entering the surface
and groundwater and, possibly, potable water sources.
Moreover, manure spread across land could contain
antimicrobial residues, which, in turn, could be absorbed by
food crops, thereby further contributing to exposure to, and
persistence of, these contaminants (Graham
et al
., 2016).
Following a major review of evidence, Huijbers
et al.
(2015)
concluded that the extent to which the environment
contributes to human exposure is simply not known,
though the authors state that transmission this way seems
“plausible”. Encouragingly, progress is beginning to be
made in this regard both nationally and internationally.
The EPA, along with other EU research organisations, is
funding a joint programme of research looking at the
emerging threat of AMR to the environment.
Endocrine disruptors are a diverse group of chemicals that
affect hormonal function and include some pesticides,
PCBs, dioxins, some synthetic pharmaceuticals and
industrial chemicals. Research funded by the EPA indicates
that, although some endocrine-disrupting compounds
were detected in the Irish environment, levels are generally
low and not regarded as a significant risk (EPA, 2015h).
Healthy Food
A clean environment is essential to healthy food
production.
Much is written about “healthy food”, but from an
environmental and human health point of view this
concept is largely concerned with ensuring that foods
are free from contamination associated with chemical
or biological pollution. Careful regulation is necessary to
ensure that food-growing areas are not adversely impacted
by, for example, poorly treated waste water, landspread
wastes, contaminated fertilisers, badly managed farm
chemicals or air pollutants. International agreements such
as the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air
Pollution also have a role to play by reducing the threat
of airborne heavy metals coming across our borders and
settling on land.
Care is also required around the reintroduction of
by-products into the food chain to avoid unintended
contamination. Some recent incidents involving Irish
producers have shown that monitoring and response
systems are working well; however, the goal is clearly to
avoid these circumstances arising.