A new study out of Baylor University finds our pharmaceuticals are getting into fish and other aquatic life (Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)
There’s something fishy with pharmaceuticals. Lester Graham reports researchers find the drugs we take end up in some fish:
Transcript
There’s something fishy with pharmaceuticals. Lester Graham reports researchers find the drugs we take end up in some fish:
If you’re a fish living anywhere near a wastewater treatment plant, you’re swimming in drugs.
A new study out of Baylor University finds our pharmaceuticals are getting into fish and other aquatic life.
Bryan Brooks is one of the researchers.
“In many cases we really don’t know the full potential effects of these kind of drugs on aquatic life.”
This is just the latest research that shows the stuff we take passes through us, and ends up in the water.
There’s not a lot you can do about that, but Brooks says at least don’t flush unused medications down the toilet.
“Perhaps the most appropriate way to dispose of unused medications is directly to landfill when it’s properly packaged.”
The FDA says, mix the drugs with something nasty like kitty litter or old coffee grounds so kids won’t be interested. Then put it all in a sealed bag or can with a lid so it doesn’t leak out of a garbage bag.
For The Environment Report, I’m Lester Graham.