Thanks to climate change and your pee, contaminants are in the water — and they’re spreading
When Hurricane Irma slashed through Florida, she sent millions of gallons of raw sewage roiling into residential areas across the state. City workers scrambled to contain the putrid mixture, but it was like catching smoke with bare hands — especially considering this sludge’s hidden dangers.
Sprawling effluent is already unsettling, but scientists now know this gushing goop also carries traces of our pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Extreme weather events remind us how fragile our nation’s wastewater management systems are in the face of climate change, but few of them even remove medical contaminants to begin with.
Despite a lack of hurricanes, a similar problem persists in northern states. “We are getting more snow in recent winters and more extreme rainfall events,” says Seth Moore, Ph.D., director of biology and environment for Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota. “And as we get rapid snowmelt and runoff, we may see more septic systems and wastewater treatment systems fail.”
An industry-wide commitment to advance wastewater filtration systems could help us get one step ahead of the extreme precipitation caused by climate change, a trend expected to continue in the Midwest.
When Moore saw an 80–90 percent decline in fish in all five Great Lakes since the 1980s, it dawned on him — there was something in the water. “Each Great Lake research community explains it differently. But to me, it looked like a large-scale phenomenon,” he explains. Moore suspects that the increased rain and snow from climate change provides a larger runoff, potentially raising levels of pharmaceutical contaminants in water bodies. He says these mightier cloudbursts can overwhelm nearby wastewater management systems.
A recent study Moore collaborated on found synthetic estrogens, antidepressants, opiates, antibiotics, and stimulants in remote lakes where tribal communities fish, nowhere near wastewater treatment facilities. Moore’s fears were validated — these gnarly contaminants are far-flung.
The idea of ingesting someone else’s medication — at low doses — is disturbing. Imagine inhaling this toxic cocktail every time you took a breath, like the aquatic wildlife in these tainted lakes must. The team behind the study is concerned about associated antimicrobial resistance and behavioral or reproductive changes in these fish. Moore also worries that disrupted aquatic ecosystems could threaten the ability of tribal communities to maintain a subsistence lifestyle. So, the team will also investigate whether these chemicals can travel up the food chain.
But how did these sinister compounds get into remote lakes? With the help of Earth’s water cycle, exacerbated by increased precipitation from climate change, according to scientists. As lake water evaporates into the air, the scientists suspect that clouds may very well be carrying these substances to remote lakes.
Few other tribes have looked at medical contaminants impacting the subsistence species they hunt and Moore says the Grand Portage Band is the first to study medical contaminants’ effects on subsistence fish species, specifically. Their research can help communities with subsistence lifestyles prevent chemical contamination from impacting their cultural well-being.
“Our goal is to protect food sovereignty, and to remain excellent stewards of our natural resources,” says Moore, “so that seven generations from now, our descendants may use the Earth as we do today, and as our ancestors did seven generations ago.”
