In practically all bodies of water small molecules can be found that cannot be filtered out by sewage treatment. They often come from households and enter the water chain via toilets. Rivers and lakes are full of drug residues.

The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that according to a European study only ten percent of all surface waters have been classified as “very clean”. Especially painkillers, antibiotics and psychotropic drugs pollute our environment. For this to happen, the households need not dispose of their old drugs in the toilet; simply by going to the toilet the metabolic end products of the pharmaceutical drugs are excreted and flushed into the sewerage. From there they enter the surface waters, where they persist for a long time as they cannot be filtered out. Their share of water pollutants is quite significant.

Whilst the quantities that enter waste water from the manufacturers can precisely determined according to production amounts, the concentrations caused by users are estimated based on the annual quantities sold, the recommended daily dose, water consumption and a mathematical factor. For example, in 2007 approximately 344 tonnes of the painkiller ibuprofen (in the US: Advil®) were consumed in Germany (Source: Advisory Council on the Environment 2007).

Years ago ecotoxicologists already pointed out that adverse environmental effects are observed, e.g. feminisation and reduced fertility in fish. The long-term influence of so-called endocrine disruptors - and residues from contraceptive pills or hormone substitution therapies are just that - on the possible occurrence not only of environmental imbalance but also human diseases has been discussed for a long time. Last year the WHO demanded new studies on the effects of endocrine disrupters.

Prof. Kümmerer is represented in the InVitroJobs working group list.

Sources (in German):
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/belastete-gewaesser-medikamente-sollen-biologisch-abbaubar-werden-a-966195.html
http://www.natur.de/de/20/Wie-Tourismus-die-Alpen-bewahrt, 1,, 1445.html

Literature:
Damstra T, Barlow S, Bergman A, Kavlock, R & Van der Kraak, G (2013): Global assessment of the state-of-the-science of endocrine disruptors. WHO, IPCS International Program on Chemical Safety. WHO/PCS/EDC/02.2
http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/new_issues/endocrine_disruptors/en/

Sharon Munn & Marina Goumenou (2013): Key scientific issues relevant to the identification and endocrine disrupting substances Characterisation of. Report of the Endocrine Disrupters Expert Advisory Group. JRC Scientific and Policy Reports. European Commission EUR 25919 - Joint Research Centre - Institute for Health and Consumer Protection.
http://www.umweltrat.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/04_Stellungnahmen/2007_Stellung_Arzneimittel_in_der_Umwelt.html