Tag Archives: prescription drugs
Wastewater Treatment Plants: Cocktail of drugs taint bonefish in Biscayne Bay and Keys, study finds.
A cocktail of prescription drugs, from blood pressure medications to opioids, has found its way into the flesh of South Florida’s population of bonefish, one of the state’s most sought-after game fish, according to a study released this week. “The source of this contamination is human waste and a wastewater infrastructure that has been pressed beyond its technological capability and capacity, at least to meet the demands of today,” The culprit is a sewage system designed to filter out fecal matter and other pollution, but not pharmaceuticals, researchers at Florida International University and the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust say. >click to read< 09:07 Read more about wastewater treatment plants, >click to read<
Only half of drugs, other newly emerging contaminants removed from sewage treatment
Only about half of the prescription drugs and other newly emerging contaminants in sewage are removed by treatment plants. More than 1,400 wastewater treatment plants in the United States and Canada discharge 4.8 billion gallons of treated effluent into the Great Lakes basin every day, according to the study.The scientists reviewed 10 years of data from wastewater treatment plants worldwide to see how well they removed 42 compounds that are increasingly showing up in the Great Lakes. more@envirohealthnews 17:09
