Research from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) highlights several solutions to prevent pharmaceuticals from entering water sources following wastewater treatment, such as strengthening medication return programs.
The study suggests that pharmaceutical chemicals entering waterways can have long-term consequences for both human and environmental health, such as altering the reproduction, development and feeding patterns of fish, accumulating in the food chain, and encouraging wide antibiotic resistance among the public, which bolsters antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Authors of the study note that the current Canadian Chemical Management Plan (CMP) under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act does not include routine monitoring of antibiotic contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) from wastewater. They note that the current lack of monitoring at the wastewater treatment plant level may also be attributed to the lack of funding required to monitor CECs.
The authors say the goal of the study is to expose knowledge gaps that exist in Canada’s water governance framework for detecting and monitoring antibiotics in wastewater and assessing the risks associated with these compounds in receiving waters.
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“One of the primary ways pharmaceuticals enter the environment is through wastewater from industry, hospitals and homes. Canada’s wastewater treatment plants were built decades ago and while they are effective at removing conventional pollutants like nutrients and metals, they were not designed to filter out pharmaceuticals effectively,” said study co-author and TMU PhD student Oluwatosin Aladekoyi in a statement from TMU.
The study notes that some provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia have “long-running and successful drug take-back programs.” About 6,000 participating pharmacies have collected some 4.6 million kg of medications, the study estimates.
The study recommends an expansion of public education efforts, so that more people understand proper medication disposal methods. The researchers are also encouraging pharmaceutical companies to adopt greener production practices.
Another solution, the TMU authors say, is implementing regulations that could require pharmaceutical industries to treat their wastewater before discharge. Additionally, the study suggests that more emphasis could be placed on green chemistry, meaning that drug makers, through design and production, “can adopt products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use or generation of harmful substances.”
“Accumulation of antibiotics in the environment: Have appropriate measures been taken to protect Canadian human and ecological health?” was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.
