MSU
What happens when a fish ingests Viagra?
Scientists aren't sure, but MSU researchers are looking for ways to prevent pharmaceuticals from reaching unintended patients, specifically, marine life in lakes and rivers.
An MSU study on how microbes break down pharmaceutical components that are discharged into the environment received a grant of more than $375,000 from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, Inc.
"Pharmaceuticals are reaching the environment because it's used in humans and animals; yet, in some cases, we do not know about the environmental fate of these chemicals," said James Tiedje, director of the Center for Microbial Ecology and one of the principal investigators for the study.
Hui Li, an associate professor in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, and Mary Beth Leigh, a research assistant at the Center for Microbial Ecology, are also helping lead the study.
When a person ingests medicine, what is not absorbed into the blood stream passes out of the body with stool and urine that is flushed down the toilet, said Amy Perbeck, a toxicologist at the Water Bureau of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The waste water then goes to a treatment plant and is released into streams and rivers or is sprayed out to fields or sand basins, Perbeck said.