This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk collaboration. Scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical pollution and illegal drug use is a growing threat to wildlife. From brown trout “addicted to methamphetamine” to European perch who lose their fear of predators because of depression medication. Drug exposure can cause unexpected and significant changes in animal behavior
[[{“value”:”This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Researchers warn that the threat of modern medical and illegal drug pollution is growing, with brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine and German perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medications.
Drug exposure is causing important, sudden changes to some animals ‘ behavior and anatomy. Male birds behave more violently and sing less to entice them than their counterparts who have been given antidepressants like Prozac at concentrations found in sewage waterways, making them less appealing to potential mates.
Some fish populations have experienced sex reversals as a result of the contraceptive pill, leading to a decline in numbers and regional extinctions as male fish turned to feminine organs. Scientists have warned that current medical waste may have unexpected consequences for humans and that it is having major effects on wildlife that is exposed to discharges in their ecosystems.
According to Michael Bertram, an assistant professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,” Active pharmaceutical ingredients are found in waterways all around the world, including in organisms that we might consume.”
He claimed that there was more evidence of the issue than it had been in recent years, and that biodiversity was a worldwide issue that deserved more attention.
” Drugs must be created to not only be effective and safe, but also have a lower possible risk to wildlife.”
Researchers argued that the pharmaceutical industry must immediately change the way drugs are designed to be more environmentally friendly in a paper released on Wednesday.
” There are a few pathways for these chemicals to enter the environment”, Bertram, one of the paper’s authors, said. ” If there is insufficient treatment of pharmaceuticals that are being released during drug production, that’s one way,” says one doctor. Another is used while. Not all of the drug in a human body is broken down when they take a pill, so the resultant substance is released straight into the environment through our excrement.
Drugs such as caffeine, anti- anxiety medications, antidepressants, and antipsychotics were all entering ecosystems, Bertram said, as were improper drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
Bertram cited the distinctive example of diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory medication used to treat cattle in southern Asia at the time, that caused India’s vulture population to decline by more than 97 percent between 1992 and 2007 and the distinctive example of diclofenac. In the end, the nation experienced a rise in rabies cases from dogs that were eating the carcasses of cattle that were not long being consumed by the birds.
Other instances include antibiotic-related microbe pollution and fathead minnows who remained restless after drinking low levels of caffeine.
Alarmingly, it is precisely this aspect of pharmaceuticals that makes them especially dangerous environmental pollutants in both humans and animals: they are specifically engineered to have natural effects at small doses.
A recent study found that 61 unique drugs from 104 nations were found in 1, 052 locations, with at least one trace of one drug above acceptable levels for natural health in 43.5 percent of the sites.
The researchers said active pharmaceutical ingredient ( API ) pollution was occurring against a backdrop of other pressures on biodiversity, including the climate crisis, habitat destruction and overconsumption.
They said the lifecycle of drug production could be reformed to curb their spillover on ecosystems, and pharmacists, physicians, nurses and vets should be trained in the potential economic impact of medicines. They added that after use, drugs might be made to break down more quickly, and that wastewater treatment should be expanded to stop API pollution from entering the environment.
We urge drug designers and manufacturers, scientists and policymakers to acknowledge the growing environmental threat posed by APIs and to immediately prioritize the green chemical design of greener drugs to prevent further economic harm, the paper said.
Gorka Orive, a scientist and professor of pharmacy at the University of the Basque Country, who is the author of the study, stated that “greener drugs reduce the ability for pollution throughout the whole cycle.”
” Drugs must be created to be effective and safe, as well as to have a lower possible risk to wildlife and animal health when they are present in the environment,” he said.”}]] This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced these as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Researchers warn that current medical and illegal drug pollution is becoming a growing threat to wildlife from brown trout becoming “addicted” to methamphetamine to Western perch losing their fear of predators due to depression medication. Drug exposure is causing major, sudden changes to some animals ‘ behavior
This story was originally published in the Guardian, and reproduced here with the Climate Desk collaboration. Scientists warn that modern pharmaceutical pollution and illegal drug use is a growing threat to wildlife. From brown trout “addicted to methamphetamine” to European perch who lose their fear of predators because of depression medication. Drug exposure can cause unexpected and significant changes in animal behavior
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