In today’s society, pharmaceutical drugs have become an integral part of our daily lives. They are being used for a variety of things that include getting rid of headaches, mood stabilizer, hormonal regulation, treating our livestock and even antidepressants. The use of pharmaceutical drugs has been increasing dramatically, and is constantly being improperly disposed. As a result, the waters are being contaminated, which in turn leads to both public health and environmental hazards. These hazards are not only bad for our health, but create a large economic burden for society. The costs of water treatment facilities, as well as loss of ecosystem services are problems only recently being addressed. Europe and America have invested large amounts …show more content…
This has allowed for environmental hazards to be ignored, causing the problems we are only now seeing. While the products provided by this industry are critical in most instances, doing things like saving lives and helping with mental health, the way this system is structured needs to change. This is apparent from our research, showing the severity and implications of this contamination. The fault does not only fall on the pharmaceutical companies; hospitals, drug stores, our government, and even us as consumers are at fault. Our government has some regulations for how these should be disposed of by hospitals and individuals, but these are not enforced. Most of society is unaware that unused drugs should be returned to the pharmacy for proper disposal, but a lack of awareness contributes to this problem. The findings here contribute to the need of systematic change to how these drugs are produced, used, and disposed. Drug companies need to make these drugs with disposal in mind, government regulations and accountability of hospitals and individuals need to improve and water treatment facilities will need to address this contamination. The first two steps to reduce the contamination and the water treatment facilities address the rest of it. Much of the research are being done now is for