Skip to main content

Wastewater treatment process may keep fish off antidepressants


While some people may wonder about the possible side-effects of antidepressants on the people who are taking them, here’s another thing to consider ... what happens when the residue from those drugs passes through the user’s urine and into the sewage system? As it turns out, it can enter local waterways and affect the fish. Now, researchers from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have developed technology to keep that from happening.
In a study recently conducted at Sweden’s Umeå University, perch were exposed to the anxiety-moderating drug Oxazepam, in concentrations similar to those found downstream from sewage treatment plants. It was observed that the normally-shy fish became bolder, venturing away from their protective schools to hunt for food – a behavior that makes them more likely to be eaten by predators.
It was additionally noted that they ate more quickly. This could allow them to eat a greater amount overall, potentially throwing ecosystems out of balance, and creating algae blooms via increased amounts of feces.
Umeå environmental chemist Jerker Fick was quoted as saying, “The solution to the problem is not to stop medicating ill people, but to try to develop sewage treatment plants that can capture environmentally hazardous drugs.” Apparently, that’s what KTH has done.
The technology utilizes a process known as membrane distillation, in which liquid water passes through a microporous membrane in the form of water vapor – once on the other side of that membrane, the vapor moves across an air gap and then condenses on a collecting plate, thus returning to its liquid state. Antidepressants in the unfiltered liquid are unable to pass through the membrane, so they end up collecting on its liquid, “dirty” side.
The water temperature reportedly doesn’t need to be particularly high in order for the process to work.A large-scale membrane distillation system has been set up at KTH’s Hammarby Sjöstadsverket water treatment test facility. When wastewater containing 282 nanograms of Oxazepam per liter was treated, the concentration dropped to under two nanograms per liter – in an ordinary treatment plant, virtually none of the Oxazepam would have been removed.
The results have been similar with most other medications tested. “Of all the 20th century-tested drugs, it is only the remains of the antidepressant Sertraline that we failed to clear 100 percent,” 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New type of silicone exhibits both viscous and elastic properties

Looking for a more effective solution to the all-too-common wobbly table dilemma than a folded up bit of cardboard or piece of rubber under the leg, University of Virginia physicist Lou Bloomfield created a new type of silicone rubber called Vistik – it's malleable enough to take on any shape when pressed, but is still resilient enough to offer support, as it  gradually starts to return to its original shape as the pressure is released. The material could have many applications ... beyond just steadying up wobbly tables. Vistik is a viscoelastic material, meaning that it exhibits both viscous and elastic properties. As a result, when compared to something such as conventional silicone rubber, there’s a considerable time lag in its response to continuous pressure. “It seems elastic in response to sudden forces or impacts, denting in proportion to the sudden, brief stress and then returning almost instantly to its earlier shape when that stress is removed,” Prof. Bloomfield ex...

Google reportedly launching YouTube music subscription service

YouTube, whether intentionally or not, is the new MTV. Not long after the network once known as Music Television stopped playing music, Google’s video streaming service took its place as the preferred music video source for teenagers. According to a new report, Google is now ready to take the next step and sell subscriptions for its service. According to  Fortune , Google is preparing to launch a YouTube subscription service later this year. Rather than creating a paywall around existing YouTube content, though, the paid tier would simply let viewers enjoy copyrighted musical content ad-free. Spotify for music videos? The YouTube subscription service would be separate from – but overlap with – an (also-rumored) Google Play subscription streaming service. The Android version is expected to more closely resemble Spotify’s (and Rdio’s, Deezer’s, Rhapsody’s, etc.) on-demand audio model, while an ad-free YouTube would be more akin to a Spotify for music videos. In its early y...

Tricycle House pedal-powered RV offers lots of home comforts

The idea of living life on the road in an RV can be appealing. Unfortunately, most RV’s aren’t very environmentally friendly, nor are they self-sufficient. However, the Tricycle House isn’t like most RV’s, as it relies on pedal power to move between destinations, and boasts several pieces of clever folding furniture to provide those much-needed home comforts. Conceived by architectural firm People’s Industrial Design Office (PIDO) for 2012’s “Get It Louder” Exhibition in Beijing, the Tricycle House addresses the fact that private ownership of land is not permitted in China. The pedal-powered RV envisions a future in which individual Chinese people are able to more fully connect with their land, while living simply and sustainably, on their own terms. The Tardis-like house structure is affixed to a tricycle and constructed from polypropylene (a thermoplastic polymer). The polypropylene is cut with a CNC router, before being folded and welded into shape, retaining its strength but ga...