Remnants of drugs found in New York City rivers

In the US, nearly 100 million people are currently recommended medications like metoprolol and atenolol to help reduce their blood pressure. As an unintended consequence, some of those drugs are ending up in US waterways. New research confirms that increased levels of pharmaceuticals, recreational drugs, and their byproducts can be found in the Hudson and East Rivers in New York City after heavy rainfall events, and might be found elsewhere too ( Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2024, DOI: 10.1002/etc.5891 ) . Typically drugs aren't completely metabolized by the human body, and a measurable portion of them can be excreted in urine. That urine usually travels directly to wastewater treatment facilities, which vary in their effectiveness at removing drug contaminants. However, Marta Concheiro-Guisán , a forensic toxicologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and one of the paper's authors, says that New York City and many other major US cities