The development and advancements of medications have provided endless benefits to people across the world, curing ailments, delivering relief and even prolonging life.
However, medications for people were developed for just that – people. When animals such as fish or birds ingest them, things can go wrong. Very wrong. We’ve known this for some time, and new research has once again confirmed this, with worrying side effects including anxiety, addiction and even sex reversal due to the contamination of our delicate ecosystems.
In the journal Nature Sustainability, published in June 2024, a group of researchers from universities across the world including Australia, Sweden, United States, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, and Spain, stated that exposure to a range of pharmaceutical drugs can have devastating effects.
For example, brown trout had become ‘addicted’ to methamphetamine, European perch that absorbed anti-depression drugs lost their fear of predators, which made them more vulnerable to them, and exposure to the contraceptive pill has caused sex reversal in some fish populations, which has caused to a collapse in the population and even local extinction events due to the feminisation of fish populations.
In other disturbing examples, female starling birds exposed to antidepressants, like Fluoxetine, at certain concentrations in sewage waterways have become less attractive to potential mates; the males have in-turn become more aggressive and sung less in order to attract a ‘dosed’ mate as opposed to an ‘undosed’ mate.
The researchers concluded that pharmaceutical companies should fund a public awareness campaign about the issue and urgently focus on developing medications that are greener and less harmful to animals and ecosystems.
Across 2023, 335.8 million prescriptions were filled out for Australians, with the cost common medications being to help lower cholesterol, treatment for high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes, antidepressants, and antibiotics. On top of these are millions of over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements and others. Considering this sheer volume, the amount of pharmaceutical contamination that reaches Australia’s precious ecosystems is significant.
And the negative consequences could have a ‘horseshoe effect,’ when humans then consume fish or other seafood that itself has ingested pharmaceuticals. This needs further research to find out the effects it could have on people.
This is why it’s so vitally important that everyone takes the task of responsibly disposing of their unwanted or expired medications seriously. Return Unwanted Medicines – also known as The RUM Project is a free service available to all Australians to return a large range of prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, supplements and such items to their local pharmacy.
Returned medication is safely incinerated at high-temperature as required by Environmental Protection Authority accredited incineration facilities to ensure that no residue will leach into the environment and cause more contamination.
The Return of Unwanted Medicines Project is a free service that offers a way to dispose of unwanted or expired medicines safely and conveniently at your local community pharmacy.