‘Greener’ Drugs Needed to Protect Wildlife, Biodiversity and Public Health From Exposure Damages, Study Says

Pharmaceutical pollution is posing new dangers to wildlife, and humans will need to develop more eco-friendly medications to preserve ecosystems, according to a new paper published in Nature Sustainability.

The specific effects that human drugs can have on wildlife has been well documented. One study found that when exposed to antidepressants present in their habitat, crayfish spent more time seeking food, which could put them in greater danger from predators. Another study found signs of methamphetamine addiction in trout that were exposed to water polluted with these drugs. A study of Florida’s waterways revealed 58 different kinds of prescription drugs present in 93 bonefish, with a single fish having as many as 17 different drugs present.

Now, a new paper is highlighting the many ways that prescription drugs for humans are polluting the world around us, which not only impacts wildlife but can also affect humans.

“There are a few pathways for these chemicals to enter the environment,” Michael Bertram, co-author of the paper and an assistant professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, told The Guardian. “If there is inadequate treatment of pharmaceuticals that are being released during drug production, that’s one way. Another is during use. When a human takes a pill, not all of that drug is broken down inside our bodies and so through our excrement, the effluent is released directly into the environment.”

As The Guardian reported, there is a wide variety of drugs entering the environment, from legal drugs and prescription medications like caffeine and antidepressants to illegal drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine. Not only can these drugs lead to behavioral changes in wildlife, but they can also leach into groundwater used for drinking water.

The paper cited a recent study that looked at pollution of active pharmaceutical ingredients worldwide. In that study, researchers analyzed 61 drugs in samples of river water from 1,052 sites in 104 countries, and 43% of sites had at least one drug present at levels higher than ecological safety limits.

The authors of the paper are urging scientists to develop “greener” drugs that will still be effective for humans but will be safer for wildlife. The recommended updates include developing drugs that more quickly and fully biodegrade as well as updating wastewater treatment infrastructure so that it can remove pharmaceutical pollutants before they reach the environment.

“Greener drugs reduce the potential for pollution throughout the entire cycle,” Gorka Orive, co-author of the paper and a professor of pharmacy at the University of the Basque Country, told The Guardian. “Drugs must be designed to not only be effective and safe, but also to have a reduced potential risk to wildlife and human health when present in the environment.”

They also recommended that healthcare professionals and veterinarians be trained on environmental impacts on pharmaceuticals and that there should be prescribing guidelines that take these effects into account.

“More broadly, in seeking to reform the drug life cycle, it is important that we incorporate the One Health approach — that is, recognizing the interconnection between humans, animals and their shared environment — within the rational use of all medicines, not only antimicrobials,” the authors wrote in the paper.