[Pharmwaste] Washington Post article on Pharmaceuticals in the Waterways

Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:49:45 -0400

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------_=_NextPart_001_01C577FA.69E57764
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

washingtonpost.com <http://www.washingtonpost.com/> =20

Pharmaceuticals in Waterways Raise Concern
Effect on Wildlife, Humans Questioned

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 23, 2005; A03

Academics, state officials and environmental advocates are starting to
question whether massive amounts of discarded pharmaceuticals, which are
often flushed down the drain, pose a threat to the nation's aquatic life
and possibly to people.

In waterways from the Potomac to the Brazos River in Texas, researchers
have found fish laden with estrogen and antidepressants, and many show
evidence of major neurological or physiological changes.

No one has seen evidence of effects on human health, but a number are
asking publicly why the federal government is not taking a more
aggressive approach to what they see as a looming problem.

In October 2002, Maine's Department of Environmental Protection asked
federal scientists to analyze water samples to determine to what extent
prescription drugs had seeped into the state's waterways. Worried that
discarded birth-control pills, antidepressants and other drugs could
affect the state's fishing industry and public health, the department's
Ann Pistell hoped the federal Environmental Protection Agency's
Northeast office could give her a speedy answer.

It was 2 1/2 years before she received a partial report identifying
drugs in the water without a detailed explanation -- it came in the past
week -- and she said she is still waiting for a full breakdown.

"We're sort of baffled and frustrated by the lack of a sample analysis,"
said Pistell, an environmental specialist. "We see this as an emerging
issue. The more we find out, the more concerned we are."

Some state officials have started organizing. Raoul Clarke, an
environmental administrator in Florida's Department of Environmental
Protection, has worked with colleagues to establish a listserv where
state and local officials can exchange information with concerned
activists.

"There are many unanswered questions, but these things are showing up,
and people are taking notice," Clarke said.

EPA officials say they are still gauging the seriousness of the threat.
Technological advances in testing make it possible to detect very low
levels of hormones and chemical compounds in waterways, they say, and it
is unclear whether such levels harm animals and people.

Hal Zenick, who monitors health issues in the EPA's Office of Research
and Development, said several agencies are working to determine whether
such contaminants "lead to exposures, and do these exposures have
implications for health effects."

Others, including drug manufacturers and sewage treatment operators, say
that while they are monitoring the contaminants, their threat has been
overstated.

Thomas White, an environmental consultant for the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said industry studies
indicate there are "no appreciable human health risks" and no
"appreciable impacts on the aquatic environment" linked to drugs in the
water.

In recent months, however, scientists have issued a series of findings
suggesting that discarded drugs, which pass through municipal wastewater
systems and into rivers, lakes and streams, could affect the
environment. In 2002, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study found these
kinds of contaminants in 80 percent of the 139 streams it sampled in 30
states. Other researchers suspect that hormones and medicines in the
water may be responsible for effects on wildlife that include feminizing
male fish and making others sluggish or uninterested in eating.

Rebecca D. Klaper, an ecological genomics scientist at the University of
Wisconsin at Milwaukee, recently exposed fathead minnows to a popular
anti-cholesterol drug at a level that was only slightly higher than what
now occurs in area streams. She had to stop the week-long experiment
after 24 hours because the fish were struggling to survive.

"They were sitting at the bottom of the tank, barely moving and barely
breathing," Klaper said in an interview. "We're concerned [these
pharmaceuticals] are not only having an effect on aquatic organisms, but
on human populations as well."

Timothy S. Gross, a USGS toxicologist, has spent several years studying
how fish are faring downstream from Las Vegas. He examined three species
-- carp, largemouth bass and the endangered razorback sucker -- and
detected "a very large and marked decrease in sperm quality and
quantity" in all three populations.

There are enough carp and bass to withstand such effects, Gross said,
but the razorback sucker may not recover. "When you have a species
already on the brink, this may push them over the brink," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who has secured $2.5
million over the past decade to fund the Geological Survey's water
quality studies in the Las Vegas Valley, said the government needs "to
do a comprehensive national study to determine how these contaminants
might affect our health, our water supplies and our environment. I think
it would be irresponsible not to provide funding on this issue. It is a
wise, and necessary, investment in our future."

But several rank-and-file EPA employees said senior agency officials
have expressed little interest in the subject. Hilary Snook, an EPA
research scientist who has been analyzing pharmaceutical levels in about
45 water samples from Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont,
said he has yet to receive funding from headquarters for the project. As
a result, he said, his office lacks the money to complete the study
quickly.

"I don't think there's much political will at all" to tackle the issue,
Snook said. "We should at least look at it. We shouldn't be burying our
heads in the sand."

State and local officials are growing increasingly impatient. David
Galvin, who manages the hazardous waste program in King County, Wash.,
is coming under pressure from county residents to collect unused
pharmaceuticals from hospitals as well as from elderly residents' homes.
He is working with the nonprofit Product Stewardship Institute in Boston
to start a national dialogue between drug manufacturers and government
agencies on how to minimize the environmental impact of discarded
medicines.

"Otherwise, we at the local level are going to be stuck with figuring
out how to deal with it and having to pay for it," Galvin said. "I'd
rather that not happen."

Maine officials hope to establish a program that would encourage
consumers to mail back unused drugs to be incinerated, and they want
drug manufacturers to pay for it. But in February, according to a letter
obtained by the Natural Resources News Service, PhRMA wrote that it was
"opposed to the recommendation that manufacturers solely fund this
approach."

Pistell and others would like to start taking back medicines, but, she
said, "the state is not in a position to pay for it."

(c) 2005 The Washington Post Company

=20

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR200506
2201988.html?referrer=3Demail&referrer=3Demail

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR200506
2201988.html?nav=3Dhcmodule

=20

=20

Deborah L. DeBiasi

Email:   dldebiasi@deq.virginia.gov

=20

WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Office of Water Permit Programs

Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program

Mail:          P.O. Box 10009, Richmond, VA  23240-0009=20

Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219

PH:          804-698-4028

FAX:      804-698-4032

=20

------_=_NextPart_001_01C577FA.69E57764
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html>

<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dus-ascii">

<meta name=3DGenerator content=3D"Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)">

<style>
<!--
 /* Font Definitions */
 @font-face
	{font-family:Helvetica;
	panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
 /* Style Definitions */
 p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
	{margin:0in;
	margin-bottom:.0001pt;
	font-size:12.0pt;
	font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
	{color:blue;
	text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
	{color:purple;
	text-decoration:underline;}
p
	{margin-right:0in;
	margin-left:0in;
	font-size:12.0pt;
	font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle17
	{font-family:"Times New Roman";
	color:navy;
	font-weight:normal;
	font-style:normal;
	text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
	{size:8.5in 11.0in;
	margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
	{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>

</head>

<body lang=3DEN-US link=3Dblue vlink=3Dpurple>

<div class=3DSection1>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'><a href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/"><b><font size=3D2 =
color=3Dblack
face=3DHelvetica><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>washingtonpost.com</span></font></b></a> =
</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D5 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:18.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Pharmaceuticals in Waterways =
Raise
Concern</span></font></b><br>
Effect on Wildlife, Humans Questioned</p>

<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'>By Juliet
Eilperin<br>
</span></font><font size=3D2><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'>Washington</span></font><font
size=3D2><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'> Post Staff Writer<br>
Thursday, </span></font><font size=3D2><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'>June 23,
 2005</span></font><font size=3D2><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'>; =
A03</span></font></p>

<p><NITF><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Academics,
state officials and environmental advocates are starting to question =
whether
massive amounts of discarded pharmaceuticals, which are often flushed =
down the
drain, pose a threat to the nation's aquatic life and possibly to =
people.</span></font></p>

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>In
waterways from the </span></font>Potomac to the Brazos River in Texas,
researchers have found fish laden with estrogen and antidepressants, and =
many
show evidence of major neurological or physiological changes.</p>

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>No one
has seen evidence of effects on human health, but a number are asking =
publicly
why the federal government is not taking a more aggressive approach to =
what
they see as a looming problem.</span></font></p>

In
October 2002, Maine's Department of Environmental =
Protection
asked federal scientists to analyze water samples to determine to what =
extent
prescription drugs had seeped into the state's waterways. Worried that
discarded birth-control pills, antidepressants and other drugs could =
affect the
state's fishing industry and public health, the department's Ann Pistell =
hoped
the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Northeast office could =
give her a
speedy answer.

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>It was 2
1/2 years before she received a partial report identifying drugs in the =
water
without a detailed explanation -- it came in the past week -- and she =
said she
is still waiting for a full breakdown.</span></font></p>

&quot;We're
sort of baffled and frustrated by the lack of a sample analysis,&quot; =
said
Pistell, an environmental specialist. &quot;We see this as an emerging =
issue.
The more we find out, the more concerned we are.&quot;

Some
state officials have started organizing. Raoul Clarke, an environmental
administrator in Florida's Department of Environmental
Protection, has worked with colleagues to establish a listserv where =
state and
local officials can exchange information with concerned activists.

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>&quot;There
are many unanswered questions, but these things are showing up, and =
people are
taking notice,&quot; Clarke said.</span></font></p>

EPA
officials say they are still gauging the seriousness of the threat.
Technological advances in testing make it possible to detect very low =
levels of
hormones and chemical compounds in waterways, they say, and it is =
unclear
whether such levels harm animals and people.

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Hal
Zenick, who monitors health issues in the EPA's Office of Research and
Development, said several agencies are working to determine whether such
contaminants &quot;lead to exposures, and do these exposures have =
implications
for health effects.&quot;</span></font></p>

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Others,
including drug manufacturers and sewage treatment operators, say that =
while
they are monitoring the contaminants, their threat has been =
overstated.</span></font></p>

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Thomas
White, an environmental consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), said industry studies indicate there =
are
&quot;no appreciable human health risks&quot; and no &quot;appreciable =
impacts
on the aquatic environment&quot; linked to drugs in the =
water.</span></font></p>

In recent
months, however, scientists have issued a series of findings suggesting =
that
discarded drugs, which pass through municipal wastewater systems and =
into
rivers, lakes and streams, could affect the environment. In 2002, a U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) study found these kinds of contaminants in 80 =
percent
of the 139 streams it sampled in 30 states. Other researchers suspect =
that
hormones and medicines in the water may be responsible for effects on =
wildlife
that include feminizing male fish and making others sluggish or =
uninterested in
eating.

Rebecca
D. Klaper, an ecological genomics scientist at the =
University of Wisconsin
at Milwaukee, recently exposed fathead minnows to a popular =
anti-cholesterol
drug at a level that was only slightly higher than what now occurs in =
area
streams. She had to stop the week-long experiment after 24 hours because =
the
fish were struggling to survive.

&quot;They
were sitting at the bottom of the tank, barely moving and barely
breathing,&quot; Klaper said in an interview. &quot;We're concerned =
[these
pharmaceuticals] are not only having an effect on aquatic organisms, but =
on
human populations as well.&quot;

Timothy
S. Gross, a USGS toxicologist, has spent several years studying how fish =
are faring
downstream from Las Vegas. He examined three species -- =
carp,
largemouth bass and the endangered razorback sucker -- and detected =
&quot;a
very large and marked decrease in sperm quality and quantity&quot; in =
all three
populations.

There are
enough carp and bass to withstand such effects, Gross said, but the =
razorback
sucker may not recover. &quot;When you have a species already on the =
brink,
this may push them over the brink,&quot; he said.

Senate
Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who has secured $2.5 million =
over the
past decade to fund the Geological Survey's water quality studies in the =
Las
 Vegas Valley, said the government needs &quot;to do a comprehensive =
national
study to determine how these contaminants might affect our health, our =
water
supplies and our environment. I think it would be irresponsible not to =
provide
funding on this issue. It is a wise, and necessary, investment in our
future.&quot;

But
several rank-and-file EPA employees said senior agency officials have =
expressed
little interest in the subject. Hilary Snook, an EPA research scientist =
who has
been analyzing pharmaceutical levels in about 45 water samples from =
Maine,
 Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont, said he has yet to receive =
funding
from headquarters for the project. As a result, he said, his office =
lacks the
money to complete the study quickly.

&quot;I
don't think there's much political will at all&quot; to tackle the =
issue, Snook
said. &quot;We should at least look at it. We shouldn't be burying our =
heads in
the sand.&quot;

State and
local officials are growing increasingly impatient. David Galvin, who =
manages
the hazardous waste program in King County, Wash., is =
coming
under pressure from county residents to collect unused pharmaceuticals =
from
hospitals as well as from elderly residents' homes. He is working with =
the
nonprofit Product Stewardship Institute in Boston to start a national =
dialogue
between drug manufacturers and government agencies on how to minimize =
the
environmental impact of discarded medicines.

&quot;Otherwise,
we at the local level are going to be stuck with figuring out how to =
deal with
it and having to pay for it,&quot; Galvin said. &quot;I'd rather that =
not
happen.&quot;

Maine
officials hope to establish a program that would encourage consumers to =
mail
back unused drugs to be incinerated, and they want drug manufacturers to =
pay
for it. But in February, according to a letter obtained by the Natural
Resources News Service, PhRMA wrote that it was &quot;opposed to the
recommendation that manufacturers solely fund this approach.&quot;

<p><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>Pistell
and others would like to start taking back medicines, but, she said, =
&quot;the
state is not in a position to pay for it.&quot;</span></font></p>

</NITF><!-- start the copyright for the articles -->

<p class=3DMsoNormal align=3Dcenter style=3D'text-align:center'><font =
size=3D3
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>&copy;&nbsp;2005&nbsp;The
Washington Post Company</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal align=3Dcenter style=3D'text-align:center'><font =
size=3D3
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>&nbsp;</span></font></p>

<!-- end the copyright for the aricles --><!-- start the copyright for =
the secions --><!-- end the copyright for the secions -->

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;color:navy'>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy=
n/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062201988.html?referrer=3Demail&amp;re=
ferrer=3Demail</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;color:navy'>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy=
n/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062201988.html?nav=3Dhcmodule</span></=
font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;color:navy'>&nbsp;</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:11.0pt;color:navy'>&nbsp;</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Deborah L. =
DeBiasi</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold'>Email:&nbsp;&nbsp;=

dldebiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>&nbsp;</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>WEB site address:&nbsp; =
</span></font><font
color=3Dnavy><span style=3D'color:navy'><a =
href=3D"www.deq.virginia.gov"><font
size=3D2><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt'>www.deq.virginia.gov</span></font></a></span><=
/font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
  style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Virginia</span></font><font =
size=3D2
 color=3Dnavy><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'> =
</span></font><font
  size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Department</span></font><font
size=3D2 color=3Dnavy><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'> of =
Environmental
Quality</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Office of Water Permit =
Programs</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics =
Management
Program</span></font></p>

Mail:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
P.O.
 Box 10009, Richmond, VA&nbsp; 23240-0009 =

Location:&nbsp; =
629 E. Main =
Street, =
Richmond, =
VA&nbsp; 23219

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>PH:&nbsp; =
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =
804-698-4028</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3D"Times New =
Roman"><span
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:navy'>FAX: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =
804-698-4032</span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'>&nbsp;</span></font></p>

</div>

</body>

</html>

------_=_NextPart_001_01C577FA.69E57764--