Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the environmental concentration data collected in England and Wales 2015–2018 (Hayes & Murray et al., 2022) which suggests that the antibiotic ciprofloxacin poses a significant antimicrobial selection risk, whether they have considered its exclusion from the Water Framework Directive’s Watch List and its place in the UK’s monitoring procedures.

Ciprofloxacin has been continuously monitored on the Water Framework Directive Watch List for 4 years. Its removal is being considered as the Directive specifically states that no Watch List substances should be continuously monitored for more than 4 years.

Ciprofloxacin is currently routinely monitored in England. Ciprofloxacin has been nominated and will be reviewed under the Environment Agency's chemical prioritisation and early warning system. This system allows the Environment Agency to consider the potential risks of emerging chemicals, including to surface waters (both freshwater and saline waters), groundwater, and soils. The system allows the Environment Agency to sift and to screen any chemical substance nominated using, where available, hazard data and environmental monitoring data to prioritise whether a substance may be a possible chemical of concern in England.