We are flushing paracetamol down the toilet and into our water supply – here’s how it could be removed

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Many people use drugs including paracetamol on a regular basis to treat headaches. But only part of each drug is taken into the bloodstream, while the rest is released into the wastewater through our urine when we go to the toilet.

Paracetamol is an ingredient in the tablet. Most of the paracetamol is absorbed into the blood. Around 5% of the paracetamol is immediately excreted in urine in its original form.