The current global COVID-19 pandemic shows once again the vulnerability of human societies. The megatrends of recent decades - globalisation, urbanisation, loss of biodiversity and climate change - have strongly contributed to the quick development of COVID-19 into a global pandemic. The resilience of ecosystems has weakened, natural resources overused, and wildlife habitat reduced, increasing the likelihood of infectious diseases, zoonoses and global pandemics.

So, I was thinking of a small step that I, apart for my work, as a private person can take. There are many options, many we already know. In this article I want to point out one rarely mentioned: Disposing medication in the right way.

Most of you must have gone through your medications at home recently, to check if you need to stock up, especially in an exceptional situation like today. It is most likely that you found unused, unwanted or expired medication. How did you dispose of them?

Did you know that medicines that are excreted naturally or flushed down the sink or toilet partly end up in the environment? Not even sewage treatment plants can completely filter all substances in the wastewater. The presence of antibiotics in water can lead to antibiotic resistance in the long run, which may affect genetics in aquatic and human life (a study conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences found traces of antibiotics in the water samples collected from the Yamuna river in 2014¹). To protect people and the environment, it is important to dispose of them correctly. Some steps are listed below:

It is crucial that pharmaceuticals aren’t flushed down the toilet, sink or drain, since water is easily polluted due of its great ability to dissolve substances. Thereby, all inhabitants or consumers of water can be affected, humans and animals alike. According to Harvard Medical School², there may be a cumulative effect on people from even tiny amounts of pharmaceutical contamination in drinking water, but this hasn't been proven. Impact on vulnerable populations (pregnant women, people with disabilities) is more likely, although that is also unproven.

While there is still uncertainty about human health effects, there's evidence of pharmaceuticals in the water affecting aquatic life, especially fish. Numerous studies have shown that estrogen and chemicals can have a feminizing effect on male fish and can disbalance female-to-male ratios. Sources of estrogen include birth control pills and postmenopausal hormone treatments, as well as natural excretion. Studies which have examined fish upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants have found more females and intersex upstream than downstream from these plants, presumably because of the higher estrogen levels in the downstream water. Other research found antidepressant medications concentrated in the brain tissue of fish downstream from wastewater treatment plants.

It has to be mentioned that the contamination of water with pharmaceuticals is not only from households, but what is within our reach can be done.