Pretoria: The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has assured the public that the presence of anti-retroviral (ARV) residues in drinking water poses no health risk and cannot result in HIV transmission. This assurance comes in response to a study conducted by North West University’s Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management and the Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research, which identified measurable levels of ARV residues in some South African water sources.
According to South African Government News Agency, the report, titled “Quantification, Fate, and Hazard Assessment of HIV-ARVs in Water Resources,” highlighted that ARVs are entering the water supply primarily through municipal wastewater treatment systems. These facilities, originally not designed to eliminate such pharmaceutical compounds, allow residues to pass into rivers and subsequently into drinking water sources.
The study found that the most detected ARVs included lopinavir and efavirenz, with concentrations at some sites far exceeding global norms. Despite this, the department emphasized that the presence of ARV residues in drinking water is harmless, although ‘prolonged exposure to the broader population may lead to antimicrobial resistance, a subject of ongoing research.’
In a joint statement with the Water Research Commission (WRC), the department noted that the appearance of ARVs in water is a result of South Africa’s massive HIV and AIDS treatment programme. As a consequence, traces of ARVs are entering municipal sewage systems and passing through these systems into rivers. The department clarified that pharmaceuticals such as ARVs are drugs used to treat diseases and do not cause diseases, thus ruling out the possibility of contracting HIV from water traces.
The Water Research Commission, alongside local and international partner research organizations, has been investigating contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in water resources and drinking water since the early 2000s. The WRC’s research has focused on CECs such as microplastics, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals that could potentially pose risks to human health and the environment.
The study commissioned by the WRC and carried out by North West University found that almost all concentrations in drinking water samples at the test sites were below limits of quantification. The most frequently detected compound was fluconazole, followed by nevirapine and efavirenz. On average, lopinavir and efavirenz had the highest concentrations, while Didanosine and zidovudine were the least detected.
The department has assured that key water quality risks to human health of a biological and microbiological nature are well understood and regulated in South Africa. The South African National Standard SANS241 for water quality is based on World Health Organisation standards, ensuring that human health risks are mitigated. This enables DWS to implement monitoring programmes to provide information to the public on the performance of municipal water and wastewater systems relative to SANS241.
For more information, the public can access the report at: wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/2594 – Volume 1.pdf and