Medical Imaging Contributing To Water Pollution, Experts Say

Key Takeaways

Medical imaging contrast agents are contributing to water pollution

Medicare patients alone received 13.5 billion milliliters of contrast media for medical scans between 2011 and 2024

These agents don’t break down and aren’t filtered out by conventional wastewater treatment

THURSDAY, Dec. 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Contrast chemicals injected into people for medical imaging scans are likely contributing to water pollution, a new study says.

Medicare patients alone received 13.5 billion milliliters of contrast media between 2011 and 2024, and those chemicals wound up in waterways after people excreted them, researchers recently reported in JAMA Network Open .

“Contrast agents are necessary for effective imaging, but they don’t disappear after use,” said lead researc