Chapter 1. Antimicrobial Resistance: Investigating the Environmental Dimension - Frontiers 2017: Emerging Issues of Environmental Concern

Antibiotic pharmaceuticals are used around the world to treat and prevent bacterial infections in humans, animals and even plants. They have also been used widely as growth promoters to increase meat production, although this practice was banned in the European Union in 2006. While the misuse of antibiotics in medical and agricultural practices has been linked to increasing resistance, the role of the natural environment in the emergence and spread of resistance has received relatively little attention.