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Saving the planet one pill at a time

Every time we take a medicine some of it gets flushed into the environment when we go to the loo but at what cost? Is it time to stop flooding the planet with drugs?

We live in this amazing country so why would we want to just pour a cocktail of random pharmaceuticals into the environment? As Pennie Latin discovers, to her astonishment, in Scotland we’re doing that each and every day just by taking a pee. It’s not just peeing the medicines out either, we’re even adding to the problem when we think we’re being conscientious by flushing unwanted pills down the loo. When you take into account the 1.4 million prescriptions dispensed in Scotland every year, that's a lot of potential for pharmaceutical pollution.

In this Brainwaves Pennie hears about a pioneering and unique collaboration involving NHS Highland, researchers from the University of the Highland and Islands and Glasgow Caledonian University, together with Scottish Water and SEPA who have come together to share wisdom, research, data and ideas for how to stop this environmental problem before it gets any worse.

Its an extraordinary story and one where we all have a part to play.

Music by Blue Dot Sessions

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Jul 2020 06:00

Broadcasts

  • Wed 8 Jan 2020 13:30
  • Sun 12 Jan 2020 06:00
  • Sun 12 Jan 2020 15:00
  • Sun 19 Apr 2020 07:00
  • Sun 19 Apr 2020 15:00
  • Sun 12 Jul 2020 06:00

Podcast