Illustrating the Fate of Pharmaceuticals
New data visualisation work from the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health, Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and the University of Exeter is helping academics to understand the fate of pharmaceuticals in the environment. Featured this week, the information graphic depicts the complex system of pharmaceutical transport around the areas in which we live. It also shows how drug use can be influenced by factors such as promotion and academic endorsement, and suggests points at which action could be taken to reduce the amount of drugs entering the environment and lessen their impact. There have been growing concerns about the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment, particularly as evidence emerges of the effects they can have on the development of plants, animals and antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The graphic has been developed by Will Stahl-Timmins from the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health with the input of Clare Redshaw from Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Mathew White. As specialists in environmental chemistry and environmental psychology respectively, their discussions about how to tackle the problem of drugs in the environment quickly highlighted some important issues in communication. Clare Redshaw explains: “We realised that between us there was the need for a common language and building this graphic has allowed us to communicate across disciplines in a way that we haven’t been able to do before.
