Urine trouble : what's in our water?.

Presenter Professor Andrea Sella traces the journey prescription medicine takes after it leaves the body, and the affect this has on humans and wildlife. Sella interviews Professor John Sumpter about his analysis of intersex river fish in the 1990s, a condition that developed due to hormones in female contraceptives being released into the water from sewage plants. Sella visits Dr Monika Jürgens at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who talks through the research she is doing. They also discuss current efforts to sanitise British water. Sumpter explains the types of chemicals present in the effluent from sewage treatments. He further describes how hydrophobic chemicals enter fish species, and discusses why pharmaceuticals that affect human behaviour are the biggest concern to the ecology of Britain's natural waters. Dr Kate Arnold discusses her research into the effect of chemical-infected water on birds. She explains the results of an experiment in which control birds were given small doses of Prozac. Sella and Arnold discuss a project which investigated the effect of Benzodiazepine on Perch. Dr Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern and PhD student Sian Evans explain their work using a mass spectrometre to analyse samples of river and waste water. They list the types of pharmaceutical compounds they have found in their samples. Sella interviews a toxicology expert, who contextualises the levels of pharmaceuticals found in British water, with specific reference to anti-epilepsy drugs, and explains the realistic impact these levels have on humans. Sella visits Professor Elise Cartmell at a waste water treatment plant, who explains how the process typically works. Cartmell exhibits new experimental waste water treatment technologies, which aim to better remove micro-pollutants from water, such as ethinyl estradiol. Sewage epidemiologists Dr John Ramsey and Dr Bram Mizeres discuss their research into the consumption of legal highs using collected urine from UK festival sewage systems. Sella and Kasprzyk-Hordern discuss the scientific and cultural importance of studies such as these. Professor Ole Pahl suggests ways to move forward with the issue of water treatment, including raising awareness of the proper disposal of unused medicines and developing more environmentally friendly pharmaceuticals.