[Pharmwaste] EPA SURVEY TO GIVE OVERVIEW OF PHARMACEUTICALS IN SEWAGE SLUDGE

Tue Apr 17 13:32:12 EDT 2007

EPA SURVEY TO GIVE OVERVIEW OF PHARMACEUTICALS IN SEWAGE SLUDGE
            _______________________________________________
                         Date: April 16, 2007 -

EPA has added pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) to the
list of contaminants being studied in its National Sewage Sludge Survey,
which should give the agency significant new occurrence data to aid in
its efforts to understand and effectively address this vast category of
currently unregulated contaminants.

While PPCPs were not included in EPA's original draft for examining
possible pollutants in sewage sludge, industry officials predicted that
they would make their way into the agency's final study plan. The survey
is significant in large part because it can determine whether additional
regulation of the use and disposal of so-called biosolids is necessary,
EPA sources say. But the results of the survey are also expected to help
the agency decide which emerging contaminants to focus its research on
first -- with more common contaminants being a higher priority (Water
Policy Report, Nov. 13, 2006, p24).

The survey involves sampling biosolids at a variety of publicly owned
treatment works (POTWs) around the country and provides EPA with data on
how widespread certain contaminants are, and at what concentrations they
occur. EPA is conducting the study in reaction to a 2002 report by the
National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council, Biosolids
Applied to Land: Advancing Standards and Practices, which contained
about 60 recommendations for addressing information gaps in biosolids
science.

Biosolids and sludge are the solid residuals that result from the
wastewater treatment process, and are classified in different groups
according to their level of treatment. For example, class A and
"exceptional quality" biosolids contain the fewest pollutants and are
considered the most safe for use as fertilizers. However, some
environmentalists and academic sources say that even class A biosolids
can contain unsafe levels of pathogens and hundreds of chemical
contaminants, which can potentially run off into surface waters or leach
into groundwater supplies. But wastewater industry officials and some
other academic sources say land application of class A biosolids does
not pose a threat to human health.

The study has visited 75 randomly selected POTWs and taken 83 samples
which they are testing for metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
polybrominated diphenyl ethers, semivolatiles, inorganic ions, and now,
PPCPs.

The survey comes as EPA is increasingly looking towards contaminants of
emerging concern (CECs) in the wake of findings that some fish and other
aquatic organisms may be adversely affected by high levels of
pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical byproducts found in waterbodies.

Examining the impact of PPCPs "became a priority with EPA" after
potential water pollution caused by the contaminants became widely
reported in the media, an EPA source says. But the source downplays the
potential role of pharmaceuticals in sludge, saying, "I don't think
there'll be much impact."

However, a study published in Environmental Science & Technology late
last year indicates that EPA's sludge survey may find significant levels
of PPCPs. That study, performed by scientists with the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) and Eastern Washington University, found minute amounts of
dozens of PPCPs and other unregulated contaminants in treated biosolids.
The study also found that the concentration of emerging contaminants is
much higher in biosolids than it is in effluent from wastewater
treatment plants. However, it remains unclear whether the higher
concentration is harmful to humans and the environment, because it is
not yet known whether the contaminants may leach out of the biosolids
into surface water or groundwater supplies.

The USGS study was a survey of organic wastewater contaminants in
treated biosolids that were slated for land application as fertilizer.
The study tested nine biosolids samples for 87 different contaminants --
and found 55 of the contaminants in at least one of the samples. A
scientist familiar with the study says it is the first widespread survey
of emerging contaminants in biosolids in the United States. Contaminants
found in all nine of the samples ranged from steroids and
antidepressants to fragrances and fire retardants.

The EPA source says the agency's sludge survey could lead to new
pollutant-removal practices for sewage treatment plants, and may also
encourage people not to flush PPCPs down their toilets as a method of
disposal.

The importance of preventing PPCPs from being introduced to the
wastewater stream was highlighted last month, when the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and a pharmaceutical trade association launched a
campaign to encourage citizens not to flush their drugs (Water Policy
Report, April 2, p13).

All of the samples taken as part of the survey, except for the PPCPs,
have been sent to labs to be analyzed -- some samples were split and
sent to additional labs -- including Johns Hopkins, the University of
Florida, and the American Chemistry Council, which has an interest in
thalites, an EPA source says. EPA expects a draft of results to be
released in July 2007, with a final version released in September 2007.

But EPA is developing improved methods of measuring toxicity of PPCPs,
and is not yet ready to test the sludge samples. They will spend the
next several months developing analytical methods, and will examine the
samples at the end of the year, the EPA source says.

A second EPA official said late last year that funding to develop a
methodology for measuring toxicity in sewage sludge and biosolids would
likely be on the agency's wish list as part of its multi-year research
plan for emerging contaminants. Such a tool could be used to help target
limited research funds for assessing whether new regulations are needed
to address emerging and unregulated contaminants being found in the
wastewater treatment byproduct, agency and academic sources said. A
biosolids toxicity test would allow EPA to prioritize which emerging
contaminants to focus on by telling researchers which compounds, or
combinations of compounds, have toxic effects, the second EPA official
said.

While studies are finding a wide range of currently unregulated
contaminants in sludge and biosolids, EPA and other experts say much
research still remains to be done to address whether these contaminants
pose any threat to the environment or public health. The sheer number of
emerging contaminants in biosolids, which some EPA and industry sources
estimate to be in the thousands, poses a daunting research challenge.

Environmental attorney George Mannina outlined potential legal concerns
related to PPCPs in the environment last year in a paper titled
Medicines and the Environment: Legal and Regulatory Storms Ahead?,
proposing that the litigious route to requiring pharmaceutical companies
to be responsible for environmental effects of PPCPs could be paved with
the Endangered Species Act. Any proof of pharmaceuticals leaching into
the environment, whether through sewage sludge or wastewater could, in
his estimation, lead to possible legal action leaving pharmaceutical
companies liable for removing the products from the environment (Water
Policy Report, April 3, 2006, p24).

Source: Water Policy Report via InsideEPA.com
Date: April 16, 2007
Issue: Vol. 16, No. 8
(c) Inside Washington Publishers

Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
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 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032