Are South Korean bars illegally handing out Viagra? Sewage data suggests so
The concentration of Viagra and other drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction in Seoul's waste water is so high that sewage treatment plants may be unable to adequately filter them out, experts in South Korea have warned.
There is a hefty upswing in the presence of the chemicals used in the drugs - Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) - on Friday nights, Saturday mornings and in treatment facilities downstream of the Gangnam area, which is home to night clubs, bars and red-light businesses, new research has shown.
"We estimated that the amount of PDE-5i consumption in [Gangnam] was 31 per cent higher than in areas with fewer nightlife spots," the researchers noted in the journal Scientific Reports in early May.
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Pedestrians near Gangnam Station in southern Seoul, South Korea. The area is home to many night clubs, bars and red-light businesses. Photo: EPA alt=Pedestrians near Gangnam Station in southern Seoul, South Korea. The area is home to many night clubs, bars and red-light businesses. Photo: EPA
The team investigated the presence of the chemicals in the influent and effluent of two sewage treatment plants in the South Korean capital as well as the receiving water bodies.
So great were the levels that the plants were unable to filter them out, said Professor Kim Hyunook who led the study.
"We detected chemical compounds in the waste water that were unthinkable in the past. These can't be properly treated by the existing sewage treatment facilities," Kim said. "We have no idea how these chemicals may pollute the environment."
The professor said his research had been inspired by news reports that night clubs had been handing out erectile dysfunction drugs illegally to their customers.
"If that was the case, I thought a lot of counterfeit drugs must be in circulation and chemicals from these drugs should be detected in waste water. That's how we started this research," he said, adding that his findings had backed up the theory.
"From the concentrations detected in waste water, we could deduce that relatively large amounts of PDE-5i were consumed without a legal prescription," said the report by his team of researchers.
They said the chemicals were hardly removed by the treatment plants and remained in samples taken downstream of the sewage plants.
An assistant to Professor Kim said the concentration of the chemicals was an average of 50 milligrams per 1,000 tonnes of waste water. Kim said that there was no research as yet to indicate what a safe level might be.
"The point is that existing sewage facilities are not suitable to filter out drugs consumed by humans and an astonishingly large amount of Viagra was detected in waste water," Professor Kim said.
"The takeaway from this study is that we have to step up the monitoring and treatment of sewage for these drugs," the assistant said.
The research paper said a "regular monitoring and management programme for PDE-5i should be developed to prevent the discharge of the pharmaceuticals into the water environment".
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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