Almost 5 billion prescriptions are filled per year in the U.S. alone, and the average American takes about 12 prescriptions a year.
“No legal limits exist for the control of pollution from pharmaceuticals during manufacture, use nor disposal,” according to the study.
Pharmaceutical contaminants come mainly from human wastewater and are not removed completely by conventional water treatment.
“Pharmaceuticals are an often overlooked dimension of water quality,” said Jim McDuffie, president and CEO of Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.
These contaminants pose a significant threat to the flats fishery, “an important part of Florida’s recreational saltwater fishery,” which has an annual economic impact of $9.2 billion and directly supports 88,500 jobs, according to McDuffie.
The problem is extensive, in both the ocean and fresh water. Pollution of the world’s rivers from pharmaceuticals poses a “threat to environmental and global health,” according to a recent study from the Global Monitoring of Pharmaceuticals Project.
The researchers took samples from 258 rivers in 104 countries on all continents. This represents the pharmaceutical fingerprint of 471.4 million people.
The study showed the presence of pharmaceutical contaminants in surface water at levels that are a threat to environmental and human health in more than a quarter of the locations.
Read full report at CHD
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