Paris: According to a new UN report released on Tuesday, controlling increasingly bulletproof superbugs that could kill tens of millions of people by the middle of the century requires containing and cleaning up environmental pollution, especially in waterways.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to global health in the near future, according to the World Health Organization, and superbug strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics are estimated to have killed 1.27 million people in 2019.

The UN estimates that AMR could cause up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050. In toothpaste, shampoo, cow's milk, and wastewater, there are disinfectants, antiseptics, and antibiotics that can make microbes stronger.

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A new report released on Tuesday cited pollution as a major factor in the "development, transmission, and spread" of AMR and urged swift environmental cleanup.

"Risks are increasing," according to the UN Environment Programme report, "with increasing pollution and lack of management of sources of pollution, combined with AMR in clinical and hospital settings and agriculture."

Antibiotic resistance is a natural occurrence, but it has been exacerbated by overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics in people, animals, and plants. This implies that the infections that antibiotics were once effective against may no longer exist.

The pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing industries, along with agriculture and health care, were cited in a UN report released on Tuesday as contributing to the problem's escalation.

AMR may be exacerbated by herbicides used on farms to control weeds, and heavy metals are also a factor. Antimicrobials, which have been discovered in fish and cattle, seep into the food chain once they are released into the environment. They then return to the factories that make products like daily toiletries.

The UN study discovered that antimicrobial resistant genes are present in waterways all over the world, from the Ganges River in India to the Cache la Poudre River in the US state of Colorado.

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Rivers are frequently the source of our drinking water, so this is a serious problem, according to Jonathan Cox, senior lecturer in microbiology at Britain's Aston University, who spoke to AFP.

Cox, who is unrelated to the UN study, cautioned that it is already the silent pandemic. It is quickly evolving into the next pandemic without our realising it.

According to the report, "we can expect an increase in the use of antimicrobials and in pollutant releases into the environment, driven by population growth, urbanisation, and growing demand for food and health care."

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Governments and international organisations were urged by the UN to address "key pollution sources," such as sewage, municipal waste, health care, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and intensive crop sectors.