Studies continue to show the presence and persistence of pharmaceuticals and other personal care products in waterways throughout the country. And improperly disposed-of medicines have been shown to have numerous detrimental effects on plants, animals, and environmental processes.
A forthcoming paper in Ecological Applications confirms the presence of pharmaceuticals in rivers throughout the U.S.
From Nature World News:
“As it turns out, the antihistamine diphenhydramine – used in treating allergic symptoms as well as motion sickness, insomnia and a cold – decreased a biofilm’s photosynthesis by 99 percent in addition to drops in respiration. And it didn’t stop there. The chemical compound actually caused a change in present bacterial species, including a reduction of a group that digests compounds produced by plants and algae.
Nor was it the only one tested to render similar results; in fact, all the pharmaceuticals involved in the study had a measurable and negative impact on biofilm respiration.”
Read the complete article at the link above, and find more information about the study at our UnwantedMeds.org site.
