[Pharmwaste] Texas town releases name of drug found in water

Tenace, Laurie Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Tue Jun 10 14:16:06 EDT 2008


Texas town releases name of drug found in water
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/09/texas_town_releases_nam
e_of_drug_found_in_water/


By Martha Mendoza 
AP National Writer / June 9, 2008 
Drinking water in Arlington, Texas, tested positive for trace concentrations
of the anti-anxiety medication meprobamate, city officials revealed Monday in
response to a series of public records requests.

more stories like thisIn a February interview with The Associated Press,
Mayor Robert Cluck said trace concentrations of one pharmaceutical had been
found in treated drinking water, but he declined to name it. He said
revealing the name in the post-9/11 world could cause a terrorist to
intentionally release more of the drug, causing harm to residents.

"I don't want to take that chance," Cluck said. "There is no public hazard,
and I don't want to create one."

Monday's identification of meprobamate came after the Texas attorney general
said those concerns were not well founded.

In water samples taken in October 2006, concentrations of the drug measured
around 1 part per trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Water
department officials say their drinking water meets the highest standard of
quality.

The AP reported in March that trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals have
been detected in drinking water systems for 24 major U.S. metropolitan areas,
affecting 41 million Americans.

As part of that series, the AP contacted Arlington officials and learned
water there had been tested, but the city near Dallas was the only place in
the United States included in the AP PharmaWater series that refused to
release its drinking water test results.

Cluck, a medical doctor, had directed local officials in 2006 to conduct
tests after hearing that traces of Prozac had been found in water elsewhere
in Texas. The tests are not required under federal or state regulations.

After the AP's story was distributed, Arlington officials provided a few more
details: trace concentrations of five pharmaceuticals -- one antibiotic, two
anti-seizure medications, one pain reliever and one minor tranquilizer -- had
been detected in the city's untreated source water.

The city also named the five: sulfamethoxazole, dilantin, carbamazepine,
naproxen and meprobamate. But it declined at that time to identify which one
also had been detected in treated drinking water.

Nine different individuals in and near Arlington including reporters,
attorneys and citizens submitted legal public records requests to the city
demanding the release of the specific test results.

"I was driving to work one morning when I heard the mayor on the radio say he
was not going to tell the public what this substance was because he was
worried about terrorism," said Frank Hill, an attorney in Arlington who
requested the records. "That struck me as so disingenuous and typical of the
city of Arlington that I just couldn't let it rest. This is our water, and
our money paid for those tests."

In an editorial in March, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said that while Cluck
"deserves kudos for anticipating the problem" he should let people know what
the tests found.

The city refused, prompting the attorney general to weigh in. In May the
attorney general's office responded that there was no proof that telling
residents what has been found in their drinking water would help terrorists
contaminate their supplies. Arlington had until Monday at 5 p.m. to release
the results or sue the attorney general.

Mayor Cluck said Monday he didn't think it was safe to reveal any information
about what compounds can and can't make it through Arlington's drinking water
treatment plant.

"I do not feel comfortable releasing the names of what's in our water supply
and gets past our water treatment plant, even if it's in parts per trillion.
I don't like the concept of releasing this information because there are
people who want to do us harm. But once the attorney general said go for it,
we did."

Meanwhile, Arlington Water Utilities has posted a notice on its Web site that
describes how pharmaceutical compounds and personal care products are being
found at low levels in many of the nation's lakes, rivers and streams. The
agency says the mayor "is leading us to do more comprehensive testing and
further research of our treatment processes as more scientific research is
conducted."

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 

Mercury web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm

Unwanted Medications web pages:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm




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