Air Pollution Linked To Global Rise In Deadly Resistance To Antibiotics

Study suggests bacteria in particulates pose big and growing health risk

- Andrew Gregory

Air pollution is helping to drive a surge in antibiotic resistance that poses a threat to human health worldwide, a global study suggests.

The analysis, using data from more than 100 countries spanning nearly two decades, indicates that increased air pollution is linked with rising antibiotic resistance across every country and continent.

It also suggests that the link between the two has strengthened over time, with increases in pollution levels coinciding with larger rises in the resistance.

"Our analysis presents strong evidence that increasing levels of air pollution are associated with increased risk of antibiotic resistance," researchers from China and the UK wrote.

"This analysis is the first to show how air pollution affects antibiotic resistance globally." Their findings are published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal.

Antibiotic resistance is one of the fastest-growing threats to global health. It can affect people of any age in any country, and is already killing 1.3 million people a year, according to recent estimates.

The main drivers of the resistance are still the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which are used to treat infections. But the new study suggests that the problem is also being worsened by a growing environmental factor.

The study did not look at the science of why the two might be connected.