Research from the EPA continues to find pharmaceuticals in fish. In particular, fish near waste water treatment plants in urban areas were found contaminated with small amounts of drugs. Several types of dfrugs were found in the fish. For the study, researchers collected fish from rivers that receive treated sewage in I5 different states.

Drugs gt into water when people discard drugs down the drain and when people excrete medications. Currently,most sewage treatment plants do not remove these drug waste residues.

Studies have shown that even trace amounts of drugs can harm aquatic animals.

AS a result of the study, the EPA plans to expand similar research to include more than 150 areas nationwide, and study the potential long-term effects of humans consuming trace amounts of pharmaceuticals.

Source
EPA