Researchers are studying ways to curb pharmaceutical pollution in the Baltic Sea. They say doctors may weigh environmental impact when clinically suitable options exist, and unused drugs can be returned to pharmacies. This does not mean stopping needed treatment.
Researchers from Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Latvia are working on the issue. Medicines reach the sea through household and hospital wastewater, pharmaceutical-production discharges, agricultural and other runoff, and improperly disposed pet waste. A decade-old UNESCO and Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission report estimated that wastewater plants alone release around 1,800 tonnes of pharmaceuticals into the Baltic each year; most plants lack a fourth treatment stage designed to remove them. A recent Swedish study found doctors need targeted education and better environmental information for responsible prescribing.
Project leader Björn Wettermark said the main concern is not harm to people simply swimming in the water, apart from antimicrobial-resistance risks, but effects on marine organisms. Researchers say synthetic oestrogens can feminise fish, frogs and other species, while some painkillers can leave Baltic blue mussels with less energy for metabolism and growth.
