Antibiotic residues in aquatic environment: ecological disruption, and biotechnological solutions for environmental safety

World Health Organization reported on antibiotic resistance trends, antibiotic residue is one of the emerging pharmaceutical microcontaminants entering the aquatic ecosystem from various point and non-point sources, due to their continuous usage in human and veterinary medicine, and agriculture. The lack of proper wastewater treatment process gives rise to the contaminants entering the drinking and ground water. The constant input of the trace levels of residues over a period leads to long-term effects on both aquatic and terrestrial life due to their bioactivity, which will lead to the development and the spread of the Antibiotic Resistant- Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) that leads to the disruption of the microbial communities. Due to their wide occurrence various treatment methods have been studied for their complete removal from the aquatic system. Numerous papers have been published on the occurrence of the antibiotic residue levels in various compartments of the aquatic system. This study aims to provide an insight on the recent occurrence trends (2004–2025) in various water bodies globally. The study briefly introduces the sources of various antibiotics followed by a compilation of occurrence of antibiotics in the aquatic system around the world in the past 2 decades. The study revealed that Quinolones, Macrolides, Tetracycline and Sulfonamides are the most abundantly found antibiotics in the aquatic system; with concentrations ranging from few ng/L to hundreds of µg/L.