Toledo-Drugs and other contaminants often contained in biosolids can be taken up by the plants in fields and gardens where the material is used a fertilizer, according to research findings published in Environmental Health News. A team of University of Toledo scientists used sludge and wastewater from a treatment plant in Oregon, Ohio, to analyze for three different types of pharmaceuticals and two anti-microbial chemicals, and found that with the exception of one, all of the chemicals accumulated in the plant tissues. The anti-depressant fluoxetine was not detected, but the greatest accumulation was observed for the anticonvulsant carbamazepine and anti-microbial triclosan and triclocarban, which are typically found in anti-bacterial soaps and toothpastes. The histimine diphenhydramine was also detected. The greatest accumulation of all chemicals was found in soybeans exposed to soils treated with biosolids. The two anti-microbial chemicals, triclosan and triclocarban, were found to have the highest concentrations in the leaves of the soybean plants relative to the root, suggesting these chemicals had a greater potential to move upward in the plant tissues.
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