Almost half of rivers contaminated by drugs – study

A shocking 43.5% of the world’s waterways are contaminated with drugs, according to a research team who published their findings on Wednesday in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Led by the University of York’s Alejandra Bouzas-Monroy, the researchers analyzed 1,052 samples across 104 countries and found 23 separate pharmaceutical compounds at levels exceeding those considered “safe.” These included antidepressants, antihistamines, benzodiazepines, painkillers, and stimulants.

More than a third (34.1%) of the sites where multiple samples were taken had more than one location with drug concentrations found to be of “ecological concern.”

Bouzas-Monroy, who claimed the study was “the first global assessment” of pharmaceutical contamination in waterways, warned that humans should be “doing much more to reduce the emissions of…