Drugged Waters – How Modern Medicine Is Turning into an Environmental Curse

For some time, evidence has been mounting that chemical pollution may be entering the food chain and altering the sex functions of fish. But these effects may not be limited to fish. Research suggests that exposure to pharmaceuticals and other chemicals in drinking water may affect human reproductive systems too.

A 2017 UNESCO studytitled Pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment of the Baltic Sea region found that the chemicals’ main pathway into the freshwater and marine environment was via the discharges of effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants.

“Only nine out of 118 assessed pharmaceuticals were removed from wastewater during the treatment processes with an efficiency of over 95 per cent, and nearly half of the compounds were removed only partially with an efficiency of less than 50 per cent,” says the report.

Water, despite the built-up infrastructure and technology around it, is ultimately an environmental good that comes from and returns to nature. Pollution of water-related ecosystems directly threatens people’s health and livelihoods, as well as economic, political and security developments within countries and in their relations with other countries.

Globally more investment needs to be channeled into improved water quality. “Only four per cent of investments in the water sector are going towards nature-based, or green, solutions, despite the proven co-benefits, including for water quality,” says UN Environment expert Elisabeth Mullin Bernhardt.

“That’s why nature-based solutions for water will be at the centre of this year’s World Water Day, the World Water Development Report, and Stockholm World Water Week.”

SOURCE: UN Environment.

Removing traces of drugs in water sources is ultimately not just a problem for wastewater treatment plants but also for the pharmaceutical industry and for governments. Business leaders and policymakers globally should take note, and act by the precautionary principle in environmental decision-making.

Freshwater ecosystems are both disproportionately important and under threat. Lakes, rivers, and wetlands are essential for human life, health and, livelihoods. They directly provide our water for food, industry, and for drinking purposes.

World Water Week, which takes place in Stockholm from 26-31 August 2018, will be an opportunity to raise awareness and find solutions to the most pressing water-related issues of today.

*SOURCE: UN Environment. Go to ORIGINAL. 

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