[Pharmwaste] FW: [text] drugs in leachate and sludges--tip of
theiceberg
Tenace, Laurie
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
Fri Sep 19 09:33:18 EDT 2008
Caroline,
I don't think anyone will argue your point that flushing drugs is only the
tip of the iceberg. However, I also know that Florida DEP developed our
disposal guidelines for consumers because we were getting so many questions
from that specific group and being given an alternative to flushing helps
eliminate the feeling of powerlessness that consumers have about this issue.
There will never be a silver bullet to solve the pharmaceutical waste
problem. At best we can hope for a load of silver buckshot to attack it from
several fronts.
Thanks for your comments and for compiling a good list of references.
Laurie
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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From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Pete Pasterz
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:07 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] FW: [text] drugs in leachate and sludges--tip of
theiceberg
FYI
Pete Pasterz, NCQRP
Cabarrus County Recycling and HHW
PO BOX 707
Concord, NC 28026
www.cabarruscounty.us
If you're not for ZERO Waste, how much Waste ARE you for?
-----Original Message-----
From: Caroline Snyder [mailto:csnyder at worldpath.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:53 PM
To: Pete Pasterz; pharmawaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us;
mkeane at willcountylanduse.com; Ann Schneider; Peter Anderson; Lynn Pledger;
Chris W. Burger; Marlene Raynor; Gary Liss; Bill Sheehan
Cc: Doris Cellarius
Subject: [text] drugs in leachate and sludges
Programs urging consumers not to flush pharmaceuticals down the drain or
place them in their trash are admirable, and should be fully supported.
However, these programs do not address the other much more dangerous
personal care products that end up in landfill leachates and sludges,
nor the much larger amounts of industrial chemical compounds that end up
in POTWs and landfills.
In other words, what is being discussed here is only THE TIP OF THE
ICEBERG. Landfill leachates and superfund leachates frequently are
discharged back into POTWs, where they add to the already
toxics-containing complex mix of tens of thousands of man-made
unregulated chemical compounds. Testing of sludges and leachates for a
very limited number of analytes is an exercise in futility. In fact, a
2002 National Academy of Science Report on biosolids warned that there
is no way this complex and unpredictable mix of thousands of man-made
organic compounds can EVER be reliably regulated or tested. And
remember: "the dose makes the poison" may apply to drugs (there is no
evidence that pharmaceuticals in drinking water have ever caused
illness) but not to hormone-disrupting chemicals which do their
[documented] damage to a developing organism in tiny doses, in parts per
trillion, determined by the TIME of exposure. .Since living organisms
develop at different times during the year, how can endocrine disrupters
EVER be regulated? Unless they are totally eliminated from the waste stream?
Here is are some articles:
Hale,R.C. . Alkylphenol ethoxylate degradation products in land applied
sewage
sludges (biosolids). (2002). Environmental Science and Technology.
Silva, E; et al. Something from “Nothing”—Eight Weak Estrogenic
Chemicals Combined at Concentrations below NOECs Produce Significant
Mixture Effects (2002)
Environmental Science and Technology vol 36.
Jensen, J. (1999) Fate and effects of linear alkylbenzene sulphonates
(LAS) in the terrestrial environment. Science of the Total Environment
226 ( 2-3).
Khan, S.J. and J.E. Ongerth. (2002). Estimation of pharmaceutical
residues in primary and secondary sludge based on quantities of use and
fugacity modeling. Water Science and Technology 46(3)
Dizer, H. et al. (2002). Estrogenic effect of leachates and soil
extracts from lysimeters spiked with sewage sludge and reference
endocrine disrupters. Environmental Toxicology, 17 (2).
Kinney C. Furlong E.T. et al (2006) Survey of organic wastewater
contaminants in biosolids destined for land application EST Vol..40. No
23 7202-7215.
Kinney C. Furlong E,T, et al (2008) Bioaccumulation of pharmaceuticals
and other anthropogenic waste indicators in earthworms from agricultural
soil amended with biosolids or swine {CAFO} manure. EST
Glassmeyer S.T. Furlong E.T. et al (2005) Transport of chemical and
microbial compounds from known wastewater discharges-potential for use
as indicators of human fecal contamination. EST V. 39 No 14. 5157-5169.
Paul C. Rhind S.M. et al (2005) Cellular and hormonal disruption of
fetal testis development in sheep raised on pastures treated with sewage
sludge. EHP Vol. 113. No 11.
Harrison E.Z. Oakes S.R. et al (2006) Organic chemicals in sewage
sludges. Science of the Total Environment.
Hale, R.C; M. J. LaGuardia. (2002). Synthetic Organic Pollutants in
Land-Applied Sludges. Directions in Science 1, 10-13.
Howard,V.(1997). Synergistic effects of chemical mixtures: can we rely
on traditional toxicology? The Ecologist, vol. 7, no. 25.
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