HUDSON VALLEY – An EPA study in the journal “Water Research” has found large numbers of pharmaceuticals found in the Hudson River are coming from wastewater treatment plants that process sewage.
The report was supported by Riverkeeper and its scientific partners CUNY Queens College and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
The EPA analyzed samples Riverkeeper gathered in 2016 from its patrol boat at dozens of long-term monitoring sites in the Hudson River Estuary. In those samples, 16 pharmaceuticals were measured along with sucralose – the artificial sweetener and caffeine.
As a result, Riverkeeper and other environmental groups are supporting proposed state legislation that would help to prevent the flushing of unused drugs, through a program funded by the pharmaceuticals industry.
