[Pharmwaste] Council member tackles tainted drinking water

[Tenace, Laurie]

Council member tackles tainted drinking water
By Meghan Erkkinen
http://www.fifefreepress.com/article/386/
(go here to see "Pill Bottle Pete", the P2D2 mascot)

Before you pour yourself another glass of tap water, sip on this: according
to an Associated Press report in March of this year, a multitude of
pharmaceuticals have been found in the drinking water of at least 41 million
Americans. 

The report found that Americans across the country are sipping everything
from acetaminophen and ibuprofen to antibiotics, mood stabilizers and sex
hormones.

Sure, the drugs are present in miniscule qualities, but this information has
still led many to question the safety of the water we drink.

Fife City Councilmember Glenn Hull is among those questioning the effect of
these drugs not only on us, but also on the environment.

A friend and pharmacist in Illinois told Hull about a local program called
P2D2, started by a science teacher in Pontiac, Ill., to properly dispose of
prescription and over-the-counter medications.

The teacher, Paul Ritter, began the program after his wife asked him a simple
question one night last December - what should she do with some leftover
prescription drugs?

"At the time the practice was to throw away drugs or flush them down the
toilet," Ritter said. 

He decided to charge his students with the task of researching the issue, and
the students yielded some disturbing results - that these prescription drugs
that are so easily discarded often find their way back to us through our
drinking water.

As word of their research grew, more and more students and classes became
involved, along with Ritter's fellow teacher, Eric Bohm, and others, in
trying to find a solution to the problem. Ritter estimates about 600 students
at his school have worked to address the issue, whether by lobbying and
informing the government and media or making posters and writing a theme
song.

Then the students decided to pull together people representing local groups -
pharmacists, local government officials, police and others - to address the
issue. They developed a system in which pharmacies would take back
over-the-counter and non-narcotic drugs, and the police department would take
back narcotic drugs, and the medications would be disposed of safely and
properly.

"The program's an ability for everyone in the community to make a difference
in their own world by utilizing the ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure method," Ritter said. "In a matter of five and half months we've
expanded from four pharmacies to 28. We're in four counties in the state of
Illinois. We have towns anywhere from the size of 10,000 to 120,000."

The idea is spreading like wildfire through Illinois, and Ritter has been
contacted by neighboring states about the possibility of implementing a
similar program. Now, Ritter and the students are asking themselves: where do
they go from here?

"We go to Fife, Washington, that's where we go," Ritter said. "We cannot be
more excited about the possibility of bring P2D2 to Fife. We want people to
have our program and be able to utilize existing systems to help eliminate
the possibility of pharmaceuticals entering our water supply."

Ritter has been working with Hull and Fife City Manager Steve Worthington to
arrange a local discussion about the issue and address possible solutions.
Ritter will fly out July 3, and will host a presentation and roundtable
discussion on the subject July 7. 

Fife officials are working on drawing up an invitation list, which will
include local pharmacists, water quality workers, educators, policy makers
and police and other law enforcement officials. Hull hopes to have five or 10
people from each sector.

"I think his (Ritter's) value to us is to learn from his failures and
successes along the way," Hull said. "If [Fife] can lead in some way to get
this issue on the table, I guess that's the challenge we have facing us."

Hull hopes to get the school district involved in the issue to try to educate
citizens more about the issue and to encourage action. Neither Hull nor
Ritter knows what specifically will come from the discussion, but both hope
it leads to more discussion and hopefully, in the future, action.

"I think we can make a difference somehow, some way," Hull said. "My goal is
to get the conversation started."


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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