Potent drugs flushed into the environment through sewage or as effluents from factories remain active even in low concentrations. In freshwater habitats, where drug residues are most commonly found, research found 75 per cent of fish and amphibians had been lost.
A study at the University of New Brunswick, showed synthetic oestrogen used in birth control pills not only wiped out fathead minnows in lakes used for experiments in Ontario, but also seriously disrupted the whole ecosystem. The lakes' top predator - trout - declined by 23-42 per cent, due to the loss of the minnow and other prey, while insects increased as they were no longer being eaten by the minnows.
India is no stranger to pharmaceutical poisoning. The use of the anti inflammatory drug diclofenac to treat cattle was banned in 2006, after it lead to a colossal crash in vulture populations. The birds were ingesting the drug through the carcasses of cattle that had been treated with the medicine. Following the ban, vultures have made a slow recovery though the drug continues to be used illegally albeit in smaller quantities.
Another paper, published by researchers at Germany's Federal Environment Agency identified hormones, anti depressants, antibiotics and parasiticides as being of especially high risk for the environment.
Expanding human and livestock populations will keep the pharmaceutical industry in top form for years to come, but it is important that we begin to find solutions for sustainable disposal of drugs and preempt and tackle the effects that they can have on the environment in the long term.
Source: The Guardian.
