Last year’s anthrax scare put the spotlight on Cipro, the antibiotic used to treat the germ.

But a group of Kansas University researchers already were working to learn more about Cipro and other antibiotics like it. Specifically, the researchers want to learn what effect the antibiotics have when they pass through the body and reach waterways.

“People really don’t know what they do,” said David Graham, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics  or FQs  are potent antibiotics used to treat a variety of bacterial infections.

They’re rarely used in humans but are more commonly used in agriculture. Applications include treating cattle for anthrax and removing bacteria at fish farms.

Only 2 to 3 percent of the drug is absorbed when it is taken. The rest is passed from the person or animal.

Graham is leading a team of researchers to determine how the drugs affect the environment. They received a three-year, $521,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Graham said there are two main reasons why having the antibiotics in the environment may be a concern. First, he said, the drugs will continue killing bacteria  both good and bad bacteria  in ponds, streams and rivers, which will disrupt the food chain.

“Some bacterial predator isn’t going to have food,” Graham said. “This causes bottom-up effects that get to the level of organisms you care about.”

Secondly, putting the antibiotics into the environment may make bacteria resistant, rendering the drugs useless.

“These are very good drugs,” he said. “We don’t want to lose the ability to use the drugs just because they’re used in fish farms or related industries.”

For now, the researchers are testing different amounts of FQs in controlled laboratory settings. Later in the project, they’ll move the tests to KU’s Field Station and Ecological Reserves north of Lawrence.

FQs probably aren’t found in large amounts in Kansas ponds and rivers, Graham said. But researchers haven’t studied what quantities are harmful in the environment.

Most of the FQs in American water comes from agriculture. Some cattle feeds even have traces of Cipro in them to prevent anthrax infections.

“If you think about the size of a cow and the fact (the drug) doesn’t absorb, you could have potential problems,” Graham said.

Some FQs already have been banned in Europe. The KU research could lead to restrictions on their use in the United States.

And once the EPA funding expires, Graham said he hoped to find an international funding source to study the drugs’ effects worldwide  and especially in Asia, where they are used extensively in fish farming.

Because the KU researchers are the only group working on this type of project, Graham said he thought the chances of additional funding are good.

“We’ve got our foot in the door on this type of research,” he said.