"Uncovering the Impact: Exploring the Effects of a Diabetes Drug on Soil Health"

Researchers at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) are studying the impact of a diabetes drug, sitagliptin, on soils treated with sewage wastewater. The study found that biosolids, which are treated sewage sludge, bonded with the medication in soils and reduced its adsorption. Increasing the amount of sewage effluent used for soil amendment also reduced the adsorption of sitagliptin. The researchers also examined how another diabetes medication, metformin, affects the uptake of sitagliptin in soils and found that increasing metformin concentrations reduced the interaction of sitagliptin with the soil surface. The study highlights the potential risks of pharmaceuticals released from sewage treatment plants into farmland soils and the need to minimize their leaching and runoff.