This one is new..

http://wjon.com/survey-finds-medications-accumulating-in-minnesota-lakes/

I can’t even imagine what our lakes will look like in 100 years from now. How the food chain in a lake survives even a day is mind blowing to me..

WINONA (AP) _ Scientists have found that medications are making their way through Minnesota’s wastewater systems and accumulating in lake bottoms.

Reports say that University of Minnesota professor Bill Arnold says a survey of Lake Pepin, Lake Winona in Alexandria and the Duluth harbor found 10 common antibiotics present in the sediment. All of those bodies of water receive wastewater.

Arnold says tests indicate that some of the antibiotics are from the 1950s.
The discovery has raised concerns about the potential effects exposure could have on people, animals and food.

Arnold said it’s important to find a way to deal with the accumulation because continued exposure to antibiotics can change responses to the drugs.

I can’t even imagine what our lakes will look like in 100 years from now. How the food chain in a lake survives even a day is mind blowing to me..

At the rate we are going as a society, I suspect it will look something like this:

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a few years back there was a study of the effects of antidepressants and other mental health drugs on fathead minnows and perch.
the male perch had lost their fear of predators and would actually provoke a stand off rather than seek cover which is their normal behavior.
most often the perch or minnow would lose the fight if the predator that was after it was big enough to eat the perch/minnow.

the meds got in the water after being flushed down the toilet and from there to the water treatment plants that are incapable of filtering out the meds.
it was surprising how little contamination it took to affect their behavior.

This has been a known issue for a while, in case anyone didn’t know any Px will take your unused meds, along w/ Police stations I believe. They should NOT be flushed.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

a few years back there was a study of the effects of antidepressants and other mental health drugs on fathead minnows and perch.
the male perch had lost their fear of predators and would actually provoke a stand off rather than seek cover which is their normal behavior.
most often the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>perch or minnow would lose the fight if the predator that was after it was big enough to eat the perch/minnow.

the meds got in the water after being flushed down the toilet and from there to the water treatment plants that are incapable of filtering out the meds.
it was surprising how little contamination it took to affect their behavior.

So you’re saying we should be chumming with Prozac?

I would hazard to guess that our own waste and all the livestock waste is full of drugs too. I don’t believe that it is all from flushed drugs.

thats funny Munchy !

you are right Superdave,I should have included that in my statement,but the study I read and several others like it was done in cities with large hospitals and nursing homes where at one time flushing was the way to get rid of meds instead of returning them to the manufacturer due to shipping costs.
I would rather bet it was more out of site out of mind mentality.

the majority of meds flushed were either not used by the patient and couldnt be put back in stock,or were out of date.

edit to add: I doubt they were being flushed by the tons,but it is significant how little it took to alter the fishes behavior.

I have heard the estrogen levels are building up in our water supplies too. The source is from female urine while taking birth control pills. It too can’t be filtered out of the waste stream. At least it gives me an excuse for my man boobs.

gizmoguy wrote:

I have heard the estrogen levels are building up in our water supplies too. The source is from female urine while taking birth control pills. It too can’t be filtered out of the waste stream. At least it gives me an excuse for my man boobs.

just remember though,if ya end up growing a nice pair,you can play with them any time you want and not get b!!%%^D at !!!

Iowaboy1 wrote:

just remember though,if ya end up growing a nice pair,you can play with them any time you want and not get b!!%%^D at !!!

If we get to that point don’t forget to support Sheldon!

nhamm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>iowaboy1 wrote:</div>
just remember though,if ya end up growing a nice pair,you can play with them any time you want and not get b!!%%^D at !!!

If we get to that point don’t forget to support Sheldon!

not as worried about supporting them as I am keeping them shaved !!

walleyebuster5 wrote:

http://wjon.com/survey-finds-medications-accumulating-in-minnesota-lakes/

WINONA (AP) _ Scientists have found that medications are making their way through Minnesota’s wastewater systems and accumulating in lake bottoms.

Simple solution. Don’t drink the water or eat the mud at the bottom of the lake.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>walleyebuster5 wrote:</div>
http://wjon.com/survey-finds-medications-accumulating-in-minnesota-lakes/

WINONA (AP) _ Scientists have found that medications are making their way through Minnesota’s wastewater systems and accumulating in lake bottoms.

Simple solution. Don’t drink the water or eat the mud at the bottom of the lake.

What about the fish we consume, or the creatures that consume the fish….I guess I should be thankful I am allergic to lake water and can’t swim in it but I do enjoy eating fish after I catch them….

We’ve all been told not to flush drugs…but check what they are doing in hospitals, clinic and retirement homes with left over or expired drugs.

By law they need to be flushed with a second person witnessing it (for controlled substances)

For the record, don’t flush drugs. Use the drop offs or: put water in the bottle, shake to dissolve/destroy the medication and put it in the trash where it will be incinerated.

So in theory we should have happy fish that bite from the anti depressants, and healthy fish the antibiotics..maybe in 20 years they’ll be pill for that also, eating river fish..just the world we live in..

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Brian Klawitter wrote:</div>
We’ve all been told not to flush drugs…but check what they are doing in hospitals, clinic and retirement homes with left over or expired drugs.

By law they need to be flushed with a second person witnessing it (for controlled substances)

Nooooo. I work at a hospital and all drugs get returned to the omnicell. They’ve been regulating this pretty hard for quit a while. Even IV fluid drugs excluding normal saline and few others have proper medication waste buckets…or in the hospital world, the black box.

Ill voucher for this too. They are continually educating us on this!

The pills that get turned in are put in a container of activated charcoal for a specified time and then incinerated. Very costly but worth it.

Interesting topic guys. As for someone who has been in water industry for over 20+ years this issue has been out there for decades. It actually is not the disposal of medications that is the problem but the medications that we all take that goes though our system and is discharged in pee and poop into the wastewater system. The treatment plants are not designed to degrade medications so whatever leaves your body ends up in the environment.

If you truly knew what is in the water and the sediments you would be amazed!

However I will say that it is better than it used to be. Just different contaminants now.

D

This is a good topic that deserves attention. For those of us old enough pollution was a real problem back in the 60’s & 70’s. People would throw any and everything out of their car windows. Factories had direct pipelines running into the rivers and lakes. If I recall it took a fire…..Lake Erie started on fire, for people to get serious about littering and pollution. nhamm did remind me it was the clean water act of congress that started cleaning the waters up. Look where we are today? Most of our waterways are in better shape then they have been in decades.

Awareness will also make a difference with drugs.

Two other articles on the drugs in our waters.. My significant other a year or so back asked me if I had heard they were finding traces of drugs like cocaine in lakes. My response was, Why do you think fishing is so addicting?

While these levels are very small, they still have effects on our waters. Like stated above, Awareness on these issues are key.
“These chemicals are at very low levels, usually a few parts per trillion, which is equivalent to one drop in a football field-sized swimming pool four stories deep”

Cocaine, DEET, other chemicals found in Minnesota lakes

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/01/12/mpca-study-drug-traces-water-could-harm-fish

The biggest problem is with the hormones in the drinking water. It takes very small amounts of these chemical signals for your body to react to them.

Dutchboy wrote:

If I recall it took a fire…..Lake Erie started on fire, for people to get serious about littering and pollution.

Actually it was the Cuyahoga River that runs through Cleveland and drains into Lake Erie. At least twice, 1951 and 1969. The latest one in 69 was perhaps the last straw. But to your point, Lake Erie at the time was virtually lifeless. The infamous blue pike was wiped out and perch too that supplied so many restaurants along the Ohio north shore for decades prior.
This was about the time the Clean Water Act was enacted and by the mid 1970’s the lake was already showing signs of new life. The Lake Erie blue pike never returned though…

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“What about the fish we consume, or the creatures that consume the fish….I guess I should be thankful I am allergic to lake water and can’t swim in it but I do enjoy eating fish after I catch them….” BigPike

My comment was said in jest.

First the water, then the air. That’s some black smoke. Oily, sooty looking stuff.

Clear water doesn’t, or shouldn’t, imply clean water. Lake Superior is a very clear lake yet there are warnings every summer up and down the shores of it related to sewage run-off. The medication problem might even eclipse the problems with run-off containing Ag chemicals.