Overview
With every flush, the drugs we use go down the drain. Many are not filtered out by wastewater treatment, leaving streams and rivers awash in everything from painkillers and antidepressants to amphetamines and illicit drugs.
Join Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies for a conversation on how drug pollution impacts freshwater quality, the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and the health of river and stream life.
Discover what it means to be a fish or a platypus living in a cocktail of drugs, which chemical compounds are passed through the food web, and how other forms of pollution, like micro-plastics, amplify the problem.
Featuring freshwater ecologist Dr. Emma Rosi and Cary president and conservation biologist Dr. Joshua Ginsberg. Rosi was recently featured in a PBS segment on the hidden health hazards of pharmaceutical pollution.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies is an independent nonprofit center for environmental research. Since 1983, their scientists have been investigating the complex interactions that govern the natural world. Their findings lead to more effective management and policy actions and increased environmental literacy. Staff are global experts in freshwater and forest health, disease ecology, urban ecology and climate change.