Antibiotics were discovered for medicinal applications, notably in the last century and since then, they have been prevalently employed for prophylactic purposes in various sectors in the last few decades. Due to the non-judicial usage of antibiotics in sectors like agriculture, aquaculture, and animal husbandry, and as therapeutic substances, antibiotics have started to become a nuisance for the environment and human beings. Furthermore, the accumulation of antibiotics in the biosphere has led to the development of antibiotic resistance in microorganisms making it difficult to treat a growing number of infections. Hereafter to understand the holistic picture of the impacts associated with antibiotics on the environment, the evolution of individual antibiotic pathways for therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes needs to be studied along with their effect on the environment. Most of the recent reviews on antibiotics either concentrate on a particular source, pathway or environmental impact; however, the present state-of-the-art review attempts to summarize and update the possible sources of antibiotics, usage, their impact on humans, and environmental health on a global scale with a special emphasis on India. Also, there is a critical discussion about the various methods employed for the removal of antibiotics from an array of sources, on both water and soil matrix. The review finally emphasize that the implication of stringent regulation and selection of appropriate technology are required to alleviate antibiotics menace from the environment.

Enormous water-logging in ancient abandoned mining shafts of Kolar Gold Fields (KGFs), has largely induced the leaching of sulfide-rich gold minerals contaminating the aquifer system with hazardous elements. Transport of these contaminant has posed threat to the health of the urban population of Kolar township. A detailed survey of borewells, covering radius of 10 km of the KGF was carried out during pre and post-monsoon seasons and various parameters were assessed. Almost 80% of the water samples exceeded the regulatory limits of potable water criteria with excess arsenic (As; 12–127 μg/L), fluoride (F; <0.005 μg/L), dissolved salts (>500 mg/L). Water Quality Index (WQI) was used to understand the overall urban groundwater quality. At the centre of sampling circle core, mineral dissolution was found to be the function of pH, induced by acidophilic sulfur oxidizing bacteria. Modelling of predicted microbial metabolic pathways in metagenomics libraries using PICRUSt, indicated complex functional networks. High expression of siderophore proteins (> 2 cm halo in the chrome azurol test) caused Fe-sequestration, secondary Fe-mineral formation and subsequent release of As. Sulfide bearing Au-rich minerals (Arsenopyrite, Scorodite, Jarosite) were bio-weathered leading to release of H₃AsO₃⁺ at low pH, resulted in groundwater composition of Ca–HCO₃ type and Ca–Na–HCO₃ or Ca–Mg–Cl type.