[Pharmwaste] Putting water testing on the fast track

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2009/01/05/putting_wa
ter_testing_on_the_fast_track/


Putting water testing on the fast track

A Milford company's technology is helping a UMass researcher cut the
search for traces of drugs and chemicals to just minutes, instead of
hours

By Dave Copeland, Globe Correspondent  |  January 5, 2009

Until March, David A. Reckhow worked in near anonymity as a professor
and researcher in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Reckhow studies drinking water, and it was in March when news outlets
picked up on what he and other researchers had known for years: Tiny
doses of prescription medications, whether through excretion or simply
by being flushed down the toilet, eventually end up in drinking water
supplies across the United States.

"I'm not sure why it became such a big deal at that time," said Reckhow,
who has been studying the issue for a decade. "You need to balance it
against a lifetime of risks. In the big picture, it's probably not
something to lose sleep over, but at the same time, we want to know more
about the issue."

Three months ago, Reckhow and other UMass researchers' efforts to learn
about the compounds being formed as drugs slip into drinking water
supplies received a major boost from Waters Corp., which allowed them to
use one of its AquaAnalysis machines. The machine is able to measure
trace amounts of chemicals in a matter of minutes. Before, conducting
such tests would take Reckhow and his team up to eight hours.

Jeff Tarmy, a spokesman for Waters, said the Milford company is
targeting large utility companies which would want to undertake the kind
of analysis Reckhow is doing in the labs of their own facilities as it
looks to market AquaAnalysis. The product, with a price tag of more than
$300,000, is also being marketed to research organizations, including
universities and private firms, that would do the analyses for smaller
water companies on a contract basis.

"This is for anyone that is looking at getting answers faster, and
looking at getting answers with fewer resources," Tarmy said.

A study released last month by the US Geological Survey found low levels
of 130 manmade chemicals in streams and waterbeds. After treatment,
about a third of the chemicals remained in processed drinking water.

Utilities are not currently required to monitor for the chemicals
identified in the study. The most prevalent chemicals are
pharmaceuticals and the compounds that are formed when the drugs
interact with each other as well as naturally occurring chemicals. The
study, USGS officials said, was not meant to raise alarm, but to
identify prevalent chemicals in certain areas of the country and help
regulators fine-tune monitoring rules.

Reckhow is studying the water supplies of 15 public utilities, including
the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Despite state-of-the art
processing, most water-treatment facilities don't eliminate all of the
pharmaceuticals entering the public drinking supply.

Reckhow's work will help utilities understand how to more efficiently
remove drug traces from drinking water, as well as see what compounds
are formed when chemicals interact, and what impact they may have on
humans. The compounds have also been shown to cause problems with fish
and other marine life, Reckhow said.

"The amounts are small, but during a lifetime of exposure, people are
coming into contact with hundreds of pharmaceuticals," he said. "It's
important that we try to understand the long-term effect on people, as
well as what happens when these compounds come into contact with one
another."

The advantages of the AquaAnalysis machine - which Reckhow has nicknamed
Betsy - are readily apparent. The size of the sample needed is just a
few ounces, compared with the liters researchers once needed. While
Reckhow is mimicking how the plants treat water in his lab, other
settings and studies may require a utility to ship samples of treated
water to the lab. The smaller size of the samples needed lowers shipping
costs.

But more than anything, Betsy provides Reckhow the speed that was
unimaginable just a few years ago. That means researchers will be able
to study a wider range of samples in a shorter amount of time and begin
assisting utilities in finding solutions.

"We're creating compounds that are not naturally occurring in our
drinking water," Reckhow said.

"The question we need to answer is 'How are we going to get rid of
them?' " 
 


(c) Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
  


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
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
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