Wednesday 22 June 2022 08:17 AM Almost HALF of the world's rivers contain dangerous levels of prescription drugs trends now

When you think of pollution in rivers, it's likely visions of plastic bottles and packaging will spring to mind.

But a new study has warned that almost half of the world's rivers are also teeming with prescription drugs.

Researchers from the University of York found unsafe levels of drugs including antidepressants, antihistamines, and painkillers in 43.5 per cent of 1,052 sites tested across 104 countries.

'Our findings show that a very high proportion of rivers around the world are at threat from pharmaceutical pollution,' said Alejandra Bouzas-Monroy, a co-author of the study.

'We should therefore be doing much more to reduce the emissions of these substances into the environment.'

Over 100,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical products are consumed globally every year, according to the European Environmental Bureau (EEB).  

During their production, use, and disposal, pharmaceutical drugs are released into rivers, where they have the potential to adversely affect organisms including fish and aquatic plants.

In the study, the team set out to understand the extent of this pharmaceutical pollution around the world.

'This is the first truly global assessment of the impacts of single pharmaceuticals and mixtures of pharmaceuticals in riverine systems,' Ms Bouzas-Monroy said.

The team sampled water at 1,052 sites across 104 countries including the UK, Australia, France, and the USA.

The results revealed that 43.5 per cent of the sites had 'concerning' concentrations of 23 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

This included substances from antidepressants, antimicrobials, antihistamines, benzodiazepine and painkillers.

The sites with the highest levels were situated in Africa – with a river in Nairobi having the highest levels of all the sites, according to the researchers.

'The locations with the highest mixture HQs were situated in Africa and were

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