GRAND HAVEN, MICH. — A new report by the Alliance for the Great Lakes stated that pharmaceutical byproducts, such as cotinine and gemfibrozil, have been found in Lake Michigan’s water, according to a press release.

The findings have raised concerns about potential health threats to people and wildlife that depend on the lake for drinking water, the release stated.

The report calls for more research into long-term effects of drugs in drinking water and points out the absence of available tools to limit their entrance into the Great Lakes, according to the release.

Experts have said the levels are too low to show immediate effects on human health, but scientists acknowledge they know little about the long-term effects of these drugs on people and how they might degrade or interact with other chemicals in the water, the release stated.

“Broader use of pharmaceuticals and growing knowledge of the health effects from their chemical byproducts make drug pollution an emerging concern,” said Lyman Welch, Alliance Water Quality Program manager and lead author of the report. “As we learn more about what dangers these drugs pose, we have to be ready to take precautionary steps to limit the amount that passes into the Great Lakes every day.”

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