[HN Gopher] A new study of pharmaceutical pollution in the world...
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       A new study of pharmaceutical pollution in the world's rivers
        
       Author : sofixa
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2022-02-18 19:35 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theguardian.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theguardian.com)
        
       | philipkglass wrote:
       | The original PNAS paper referenced in the Guardian article is
       | open access: https://www.pnas.org/content/119/8/e2113947119
       | 
       | Some brief highlights for readers wondering about significance:
       | 
       | - Most rivers have one or more compounds above detection limits.
       | About 26% have one or more compounds above PNEC [1] levels.
       | 
       | - The most commonly detected compounds (caffeine, metformin,
       | carbamazepine) were not commonly detected above PNEC levels.
       | 
       | - The compounds most often detected above PNEC levels are
       | sulfamethoxazole (antimicrobial), propranolol (b-blocker),
       | loratadine (antihistamine), amitriptyline (antidepressant),
       | citalopram (antidepressant), fexofenadine (antihistamine),
       | verapamil (Ca channel blocker), and ketotifen (antihistamine).
       | 
       | - The worst affected areas were middle income countries. The
       | authors hypothesize that these are regions where populations can
       | broadly afford pharmaceuticals but where sewage treatment systems
       | lag behind those of high income countries.
       | 
       | [1] Predicted No-Effect Concentration (PNEC) is the concentration
       | of a substance in any environment below which adverse effects
       | will most likely not occur during long term or short term
       | exposure.
        
       | goda90 wrote:
       | >Only two places were unpolluted - Iceland and a Venezuelan
       | village where the indigenous people do not use modern medicines.
       | 
       | Does Iceland do anything particular with their wastewater to make
       | them not have this problem?
        
         | analog31 wrote:
         | The wastewater may be more dilute due to mixing it with
         | condensate from steam heat.
        
       | aaron695 wrote:
        
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       (page generated 2022-02-18 23:01 UTC)