[Pharmwaste] Teasting Leachate for Pharmaceuticals

[Stephen Musson]

I wanted to mention a few things about the recent articles and to address the question on leachate testing.  Pharmaceutical disposal was the topic of my dissertation which I completed this year, specifically in landfills.
 
Leachate testing - Yes, testing has and continues to be conducted.  For my dissertation at the University of Florida completed earlier this year, we sampled ten landfills in the state of Florida for 10 pharmaceutical compounds and compared those results with other wastewater treatment plant inputs and with laboratory experiments on degradation in landfills.  The papers are currently submitted to journals for review and hopefully publication soon.  Additionally, myself with the University of Florida, the USGS, and the EPA are now working to conduct a national survey of leachate for many more compounds.  However, we are doing this without funding and are asking for landfills to volunteer a fee to include analysis for the pharms and many other standard leachate parameters.  So please, if anyone may be interested or knows a local agency/landfill that may, please pass along the word and my contact information.
 
As for the latest AP stories, I think the AP has done a great job in raising public awareness but have done a poor job with being complete in their description.  The AP failed to adequately describe their methods.  They conducted no scientific study of their own.  They simply asked utilities and researchers if they had looked and what did they found.  Therefore, for example Philadelphia, which had done a fairly comprehensive study of their water, looked terrible because they reported so many compounds.  While others like Austine Texas, who only looked for a few, looked good by reporting nothing found.  In fact, I would prefer to live in Philadelphia since it appears they care enough to be looking.
 
They also published an article about the regulations.  While I agree the regulations are restricting, I believe they also misrepresented the facts and national policies as well.  Perhaps we need to get involved in this issue more to make sure the public gets accurate information.
 
Steve

Stephen Musson, Ph.D., CHMM, CIH
2736 Cox Lane
Cincinnati, OH 45209
(513)833-1479

--- On Tue, 9/16/08, Marta Keane <mkeane at willcountylanduse.com> wrote:

From: Marta Keane <mkeane at willcountylanduse.com>
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Teasting Leachate for Pharmaceuticals
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2008, 5:30 PM

Over the past ten years, have there been any studies of the liquid that comes
out of landfills, known as leachate, to learn the amount of pharmaceuticals it
contains?  Have there been any studies or further testing of the treated
leachate that eventually is released into fresh water sources, such as streams
and rivers?

Marta Keane, Recycling Program Specialist
Will County Land Use - Waste Services
58 E. Clinton Street, Suite 500
Joliet, IL  60432
815-774-4343
mkeane at willcountylanduse.com
Recycle at home and at work!
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