Drugs Found in Fish

Researchers have found that fish living near waste water treatment plants in urban areas contained trace amounts of chemicals, including drugs used to treat allergies, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and mood disorders.

Pharmaceuticals enter waste water when people excrete medications or when chemicals are poured down the drain. Most conventional sewage plants do not remove these residues, leading to contamination in the treated waste water.

In the study, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), researchers collected fish from rivers that receive treated sewage in Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, Orlando,FL, Phoenix, AZ and West Chester, PA. They tested the fish for 24 different drugs and 12 chemicals found in personal care products. They compared their results to fish from the Gila River in New Mexico, which contains clean, unpolluted water.

Trace amounts of seven drugs and two soap scent chemicals were detected in fish from all of the city rivers, and some fish had multiple pharmaceuticals in their livers. The fish from New Mexico did not contain any of the drugs or chemicals tested.

The amount of drugs and chemicals found in the fish was minute. However, studies have shown that diluted concentrations can harm many aquatic animals, including fish and frogs.

In response to these study results, the EPA plans to expand similar research to include more than 150 areas nationwide. The agency also plans to study the potential long-term effects of humans consuming trace amounts of pharmaceuticals.

For more information about pollution, please visit Natural Standard's Environmental Resources database.

Comments

[Justin B.]

There are many types of chemicals and pharmaceuticals being found in different bodies of water. For example, an article in Science News indicates that antidepressants are being found in rivers, lakes and streams, especially those downstream of a waste water plant. There are currently no federal guidelines or standards regarding human pharmaceuticals in waste water. Does anyone know if the Federal Government is planning on becoming more stringent with these regulations? The most common types of medications found are: anti-inflammatory, anti-seizure, painkillers and antidepressants. Caffeine can also be found in the water.

[Marina]

After reading this article I became curious about what the effects are of consuming fish that has been exposed to various chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Researchers from Baylor University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted tests that led them to conclude that there is little chance the contaminants (pharmaceuticals) could cause any harm to humans because a person would have to consume a huge amount of fish in order to receive a therapeutic dosage. In addition, a study in Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology concluded that pharmaceuticals, from potential environmental exposure or from fish consumption, do not appear to pose a considerable risk to human health.

[B Mozzy]

This leads to a dilemma as to the proper way to dispose of medications. One doesn’t want to leave expired medications around the house because using them may be unsafe. One may be wary of leaving unused medication in the trash for fear of “dumpster-divers” either taking the medications or realizing that medications are in the house and then targeting the house. Flushing them always seems like a good option because one is rid of them instantly. However, now we learn that these pharmaceuticals are contaminating our water. Not so simple.

[Diane K.]

Although only trace amounts of these chemicals were found in the fish, I think it is alarming that these chemicals show up in treated water! What about areas where chemical wastes are directly dumped into the water? I think this something federal guidelines should definitely regulate because it is a growing problem and something that could affect human lives in the future.

[Jenny B]

This information provides a great argument for instituting regular drug "take-back" programs through hospitals or health centers, to help get rid of the problem of people flushing drugs into the sewer systems. I've always thought that the huge amount of meds that are thrown away is an incredible waste -- especially when these meds are pre-packaged and untouched by patients. We should help protect our water supplies, the environment, AND people who have difficulty affording meds, by collecting unused drugs on a regular basis for re-distribution...and even if the FDA refuses to let U.S. residents use these re-distributed meds (potential liability, you know), there are many developing countries who would jump at the chance. It's time for the U.S. to get smart about this issue.

[Nina]

After reading this article, I became curious and wanted to know a little more about what techniques waste water treatment plants use to remove chemicals and pharmaceuticals from water and if any techniques are better than others. To my understanding, conventional treatment plants employ techniques involving the removal of only the larger particles, while other plants use additional (secondary) techniques to remove smaller particles. I believe they are called reclamation plants, but I could be wrong. The additional techniques include: adding lime before filtration or passing water through microfilters and then reverse osmosis (water is forced through semipermeable membrane that blocks the passage of molecules).

Research shows that reclamation plants remove a greater number of chemicals, pharmaceuticals and hormones than conventional treatment plants. I discovered that the secondary treatment processes (ozonation, activated carbon, nanofiltration/reverse osmosis and river bank filtration) are the most efficient processes for removal of pharmaceuticals.

[Carrie]

This is extremely alarming! Don't we have enough to worry about these days with steroids and toxins in meat, mercury levels in fish, pesticides found on vegetables and fruits and now prescription drugs found in fish and water. It is almost impossible to find any pure, healthy product to put into our bodies. I just read an article about how most of the products in stores marked USDA organic, are not even truly organic. Jenny B is right, it is time for the U.S. to do something!

[P.F.]

As with another blogger, this made me think about safe ways to dispose of drugs. I called my local pharmacy a week ago for advice on disposing leftover antibiotics that my daughter was allergic to, and she told me to crush them, mix them with coffee grounds, let them sit for a while, and then send the mixture down the drain. Apparently, the coffee grounds neutralize the effects of the medication. This brings up two questions that I hope someone can chime in on. 1) is this really effective and 2) if it is, what happens when take an antibiotic (or any other medication) and chase it with coffee?

[J. Anderson]

After doing a quick search, it seems that mixing old drugs with coffee grounds or cat litter is to deter other people (dumpster divers) from using them, rather than neutralizing the medicines. However, the information online was not clear either way, and some sites even recommended that people mix capsules with water and put them down the drain (to ensure they don’t end up in the wrong hands)!

I think that the majority of pharmaceuticals in the water supply, and contaminating the fish, are from human waste. Hormones from birth control pills and HRT are among those drugs consistently found in our water supply. I suppose the first step to reducing such contamination is to cut down on the massive amount of drugs we consume; yet, this seems unlikely if you look at how prescription drug use has increased over the years.

[WC]

Getting rid of old prescription medications is important for a variety of reasons, including to decrease the risk of taking the wrong medication or an expired medication. However, there do not seem to be many easily accessible options available to consumers. The best option is to call your local pharmacy and see if they can take back the medication and dispose of it for you. Another option is to consider a donation to a developing country. This is possible through one program, the Starfish project. The Starfish project accepts all antiretroviral medications, as well as drugs that can be used for the prevention of opportunistic infections (antifungals, antivirals, antibiotics). However, it does not appear that they accept many other medications. There needs to be a better way for people to dispose of their unwanted/unused medications safely so that our environment is not contaminated with traces of medication.

[GWE]

This is just another example of the perversion of our planet by our neglect for maintaining the natural balance and order of nature and the ecosystem. Regardless of the amounts of drugs found within the fish, the fact remains that pharmaceutical drugs (whether they are being discarded down the toilet or simply passing through patients’ excrement) are where they do not belong. New safeguards and signage is being placed in pharmacies across the country with recommendations on how to properly discard pharmaceuticals. They advise patients to never flush medications down the toilet and to throw them in the garbage mixed with wet coffee grounds or something similar to help speed the degradation process. Will this be effective or will we just see the same toxicities seep through the soil and into the groundwater? The bottom line is that trace amounts of anything can eventually add up and impact us in ways we will never know until it may be too late.

[Eugene]

This is way I REFUSE to eat something that swims in its own waste, let alone swimming in others' waste!! Could this be why there are so many new allergies? I remember when I was growing up allergies to peanuts & Nitrile was uncommon, but now these allergies are becoming more common.

I can’t understand why the EPA didn’t think of this in the first place…how many years have our local wildlife, livestock and veggies been dosed with low levels of drug metabolites? The higher you go up the food chain, the more concentrated the toxins become; could this be why there are newer allergies to substances that people weren’t allergic to before? When you have to drink a radioactive dye for a diagnostic test, the hospital tells you to use a different bathroom than others in the house to protect them from YOUR radioactive waste, but wait that radioactive waste has to go somewhere. So it is true, “Don’t drink the water!” I guess we won’t find out if low levels of pharmaceuticals will have an effect of our health till our children have children.

[Diana]

It is disheartening to read that the pharmaceuticals that have aided a countless number of people are now harming the fish and the aquatic environment. In response to the above comments about donating medications to developing countries: this would not solve the problem of environmental contamination. We all live in one world, and diverting problems to another area of the earth would not solve the problem in the long term.

Also, one must consider the safety of medications that are old/unused. Although it is less practical than donating old meds, I think we should focus our efforts on donating medications (to underserved populations) that have the same quality as the ones that people actually would use in developed nations.