It’s Love Canal all over again but the polluters are us.
For example, streams around Portland, Oregon carry the residue of the region’s medicine cabinets and coffee shops. The list of compounds includes Prozac, Tagamet, Benadryl, and Micatin, as well as caffeine.
Studies show fish reproduction is already being disrupted. Antibiotics and other substances could help bacteria and other organisms develop resistance to drugs and pesticides. Sewage plants cannot filter most complex chemicals. [story]
I looked up a previous post where the Washington Post published a 2006 story about the Bush administration working to broaden the government’s knowledge of illegal drug use by probing the mysteries of sewage.
Fairfax County agreed to participate in a White House pilot program to analyze wastewater from communities throughout the Potomac River Basin for the urinary byproducts of cocaine.