Analyzing the ignored environmental

As analytical chemists develop new tools for detecting organic wastewater contaminants, the number of compounds they find in the environment continues to grow. Low levels of reproductive hormones, steroids, antibiotics, and numerous other prescription and nonprescription drugs, as well as some of their metabolites, have been detected in European waters and, more recently, in U.S. streams. Along with pharmaceuticals, products used in everyday life, such as detergents, disinfectants, fragrances, insect repellants, fire retardants, and plasticizers, are turning up in aquatic environments.