Prescription Drugs Are Contaminating Florida’s Waterways

[UngulateNerd92]

On the southern coast of Florida, researchers have found prescription drugs in the waterways and marine life. When medications are flushed, poured down drains, or excreted into wastewater, they can contaminate local waterways. Outdated infrastructure has been unable to filter out these contaminants.

Florida International University (FIU) and Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) conducted a three-year study and found 58 prescription drugs in 93 bonefish spanning a 200-mile stretch of waterways off of southern Florida. In a single fish, as many as 17 drugs were found. There is an average of seven pharmaceuticals per bonefish. Crabs, shrimp, and other fish were also affected.

Prescription Drugs Are Contaminating Florida's Waterways - EcoWatch

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another relevant article.

Fish on Valium: A Multitude of Prescription Drugs Are Contaminating Florida’s Waterways and Marine Life

One recent study identified 58 different drugs in bonefish from South Florida’s coastal waters, including 16 in a single fish.

Fish and marine life off South Florida’s coast are ingesting high amounts of pharmaceuticals flushed down the drain or excreted in wastewater, because outdated treatment facilities are unable to detect and filter out the contaminants.

Results from a study by researchers at Florida International University’s Coastal Fisheries Research Lab have identified 58 different pharmaceuticals in 93 bonefish, sampled along a 200-mile stretch of South Florida’s coastline over a three-year period. In one case, the researchers found 16 different drugs in a single fish.

Fish on Valium: A Multitude of Prescription Drugs Are Contaminating Florida’s Waterways and Marine Life - Inside Climate News

 

[UngulateNerd92]

This story definitely shines light on another outcome of human overpopulation and environmental mismanagement...

A few years ago, there was a study that came out that showed the large amount of Prozac and other antidepressant medications in Los Angeles County, California's waterways.

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Here is another somewhat relevant article.

What Happens to Wildlife Swimming in a Sea of Our Drug Residues?

Wastewater exposes plants and wildlife to hundreds of chemical compounds. Researchers are learning about potential side effects and solutions.

Fish hooked on meth? It’s a catchy headline that made the rounds a few weeks ago, but it represents a serious and growing problem. Our rivers and streams have become a soup of hundreds of drugs — mostly pharmaceuticals — that come from the treated water released from wastewater facilities.

What Happens to Wildlife Swimming in a Sea of Our Drug Residues? • The Revelator