Treatment plants do not handle drug residues – change the sex of fish
“Significant residues” of drugs leak into Skåne watercourses, according to an analysis carried out at several treatment plants in Skåne.
Among other things, diclofenac, which is used for pain relief, and residues of hormone preparations have been found in concentrations that risk affecting life in the water.
– It has been seen that diclofenac can affect the development of fish and invertebrates, while the estradiol can change gender so male fish can become female fish, says Pardis Pirzadeh, at the water unit at the County Administrative Board in Skåne to TT.
These are two of several substances that have been found in too high concentrations when analyzes have been made of the wastewater at several Scanian treatment plants and in their reception water, the watercourses downstream. The findings place demands on the treatment plants to modernize their technology, in order to be able to better purify from medicines and other environmental toxins.
New study maps
At seven treatment plants, significant discharges of drugs were found in the watercourses. At ten other treatment plants, a risk was discovered that the levels would exceed safe levels, according to the study carried out by the County Administrative Board in collaboration with Region Skåne and Kristianstad University.
A total of 35 substances have been investigated, and two stand out in the treatment plants: too high levels of diclofenac used for pain were found at all investigated sites and the hormone 17-beta-estradiol was detected at three of them, according to a press release.
“We need a new generation of treatment plants”
But there are even more drugs that exceed a safe level in watercourses, says Pardis Pirzadeh.
– Citalopram, an antidepressant. And oxazepam, it is sedative, so-called psychotropic drugs.
TT: What happens now that you have the results of the study?
– We will discuss within the authority and we will start a dialogue with treatment plants and encourage them to apply for reconsideration to install drug treatment, says Pardis Pirzadeh and continues:
– We need a new generation of treatment plants that can solve the problems of modern society, the plants that exist today do not.
