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Streams of medicines: how Switzerland cleaned up its act

Streams of medicines: how Switzerland cleaned up its act

Science Weekly vor 1 Jahr

In the second of a two part series, Phoebe Weston travels to Switzerland to find out how the country has transformed its rivers, from sewage-filled health hazards to pristine swimming spots. She tells Madeleine Finlay how a public health disaster in the 1

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Switzerland is leading the world in purifying its water of
micropollutants, a concoction of chemicals often found in bodies of
water that look crystal clear. They include common medicines like
antidepressants and antihistamines, but have unknown and
potentially damaging consequences for human and ecosystem health.
In the second of a two-part series, Phoebe Weston travels to Geneva
to find out how the country has transformed its rivers from
sewage-filled health hazards to pristine swimming spots. She tells
Madeleine Finlay how a public health disaster in the 1960s spurred
the government to act, and what the UK could learn from the Swiss
about taking care of a precious national asset.. Help support our
independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod