Yet another study has found pharmaceuticals in the tissues of fish caught in the Chicago River near the outlet of the North Side sewage treatment plant, according to a Tribune article.
The new research has shown the presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage effluent in several cities across the country, which are then absorbed by fish downstream. Sewage treatment plants are not usually equipped to remove waterborne drugs from the waste stream, and few rivers have been tested for their presence until recently.
What effect these low-level pharmaceuticals will have on anyone who drinks the water or eats the fish farther downstream remains to be seen.