Less than one percent of all the water on Earth is drinkable to humans. Considering, then, that the Earth itself is about seventy percent water, even less than one percent is still quite a bit of water to work with; however, it does mean that humans are working with a very limited amount of drinkable water. It is very understandable, then, that contamination of that water should be a cause for concern. It has been found that pharmaceuticals are entering the water as pollutant, and there has been subsequent research involving this phenomena. Through several routes, pharmaceuticals are finding their way into water as a pollutant and impacting the ecosystem. These changes need to be addressed and the pollution ceased in order to maintain a healthy
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Due to the shear number of different chemicals in any given amount of water, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause for environmental changes. However, there are still noticeable effects to aquatic life that can be contributed to this pollution, and there is plentiful speculation on how it could possibly affect humans.
Changes in Aquatic Life The pharmaceutical in the water may be in small concentrations, but constant exposure over an extended period of time can lead to serious changes. Fish and other aquatic life literally live in the polluted water, so they are going to be the first to show any signs of being affected, and the signs are there. In the Potomac River, there are findings of male fish becoming intersex due to pharmaceutical compounds in the river.(“Impacts of”, 2016, para. 4) Fish changing sex can lead to decreased ability to breed, which will shrink their population and affect other species that eat fish. There are other effects also causing concern. “Previous research has linked other pharmaceutical drugs in fish to slower reaction times to predators, altered eating habits and anxiety.” (Bienkowski, 2011, para.10) Again, these changes could seriously affect the population and health of fish, which will inevitably affect other
Due to the shear number of different chemicals in any given amount of water, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause for environmental changes. However, there are still noticeable effects to aquatic life that can be contributed to this pollution, and there is plentiful speculation on how it could possibly affect humans.
Changes in Aquatic Life The pharmaceutical in the water may be in small concentrations, but constant exposure over an extended period of time can lead to serious changes. Fish and other aquatic life literally live in the polluted water, so they are going to be the first to show any signs of being affected, and the signs are there. In the Potomac River, there are findings of male fish becoming intersex due to pharmaceutical compounds in the river.(“Impacts of”, 2016, para. 4) Fish changing sex can lead to decreased ability to breed, which will shrink their population and affect other species that eat fish. There are other effects also causing concern. “Previous research has linked other pharmaceutical drugs in fish to slower reaction times to predators, altered eating habits and anxiety.” (Bienkowski, 2011, para.10) Again, these changes could seriously affect the population and health of fish, which will inevitably affect other