A Hard Pill To Swallow by Apotek Hjärtat

Sweden’s largest private pharmacy, ​Apotek Hjärtat, has announced findings related to pharmaceutical pollution - highlighting the harmful environmental effects of the global manufacture of legal drugs.

With help from The Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Apotek Hjärtat has for the last few months worked on Sordidum Pharmacum - a report, and corresponding pill, illustrating the chemical remnants found in bodies of public water in Hyderabad, India, a key global centre for the production of pharmaceutical drugs.

The pill contains the chemicals found in the Hyderabad water supply, and is designed to shine a light on the absence of environmental regulation surrounding the production of medicinal drugs, and the extent to which chemicals can enter local water supplies.