And I know I am grateful for the cholesterol-lowering drug that I take every morning. But I'm not certain that the inhabitants of our lakes, oceans and rivers are cheering these inventions. Epel warned that when people excrete drugs or throw away old cosmetics, toxic compounds end up in the environment in amounts that may threaten the delicate immune systems of freshwater and ocean-dwelling creatures. Instead of detoxifying any poisons that happen to get into the cells, they instead use a 'first line of defense' strategy, which is to keep the toxins out of the cell in the first place. Epel and graduate student Nancy Eufemia study aquatic animals such as the mud-dwelling fat innkeeper worm found along California's Monterey Bay.
Transporters work by kicking out toxins before they can enter the cell and cause damage.
Unfortunately, Epel noted, efflux transporters can be easily overwhelmed by minute levels of synthetic chemicals like those found in drugs and perfumes. As a result, toxic compounds can enter the cell and eventually cause genetic or structural damage to the entire organism. Little research has been done to determine how much pollution is being generated each year from discarded deodorants, cough syrups and medications.