[Pharmwaste] Top 10's

Gressitt, Stevan Stevan.Gressitt at maine.gov
Tue Apr 27 19:14:28 EDT 2010


I would like to ask a possibly unusual question. What were the top 10
most important posts to this list and what was the post that most
informed you on this list since you joined? AS it's the only one of it's
kind in existence, I just got curious what others thought.  And does the
listserv manager have any way of telling the top 10 "requests?"

Stevan Gressitt, M.D., Medical Director
Office of Adult Mental Health Services
Department of Health and Human Services
Marquardt Building, 2nd Floor
11 State House Station
32 Blossom Lane
Augusta, ME  04333-0011
Ph: (207)287-4273
Fax: (207)287-1022
Cell Phone: (207) 441-0291
E-Mail : stevan.gressitt at maine.gov
http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mh/
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Tenace,
Laurie
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 8:25 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Medicines show up in water - article from Delaware

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100427/NEWS/4270329/Medicines-sh
ow-up-in-water


Medicines show up in water
Half of Delaware samples carry hormones, antibiotics, other drugs
By JEFF MONTGOMERY . The News Journal . April 27, 2010

traces of medical hormones, antidepressants, antibiotics and other drugs
are trickling into the drinking water of homes and businesses across
Delaware, a new Division of Public Health study has found.

The drug residues turned up in more than half the Delaware water samples
taken from 20 public water sources and 95 farm irrigation wells last
year.

Among the most common contaminants in Delaware's public taps: caffeine,
the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, the painkiller ibuprofen, a
medical-imaging aid called iopromide and estrogens.

Also found: antidepressants, cholesterol drugs, nicotine and triclosan,
an ingredient widely used in soaps and antibacterial hand cleaners, but
now under investigation as a potential disruptor of human endocrine
systems.

The release of the information was prompted by a formal request by The
News Journal.

"At these extremely low levels, it's not expected that there would be a
health impact, but then, nobody's sure of that," said Edward G. Hallock,
program administrator for Delaware's Office of Drinking Water. "When you
add three or four compounds, even at extremely low levels, we're not
sure whether there's an effect."

Those questions already are circulating in Congress, where some
lawmakers recently pressed the Environmental Protection Agency to look
closer at the cumulative effect of low-level but long-term exposure to
toxic compounds, and frequent exposure to cocktails of pharmaceuticals
at trace levels.

Recent studies have tied antidepressant levels in fish brains to water
pollutants, Kolpin said. Others have found that chemicals from human
activities may be disrupting fish responses to predators, making them
more vulnerable.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that up to 82
percent of male bass in the Potomac River had "intersex" symptoms, or
female cells in their male reproductive organs. Scientists said the
symptoms were "an indicator of exposure to estrogens or chemicals that
mimic the activity of natural hormones."

In the Delaware study, the Wilmington, United Water Delaware and Newark
systems, supplied from local creeks, had the highest concentrations, but
pharmaceuticals and personal care product residues were detected in all
three counties.

Pharmaceuticals and hormones are believed to pass into the environment
because sewage treatment plants were never designed to capture or break
down the chemicals.





List getting long
Windybush resident Theresa Cody said Monday the news adds another reason
for her uneasiness about our drinking water.

"It does slightly concern me -- that's why we have filtered water, and
that's why we drink a lot of bottled water," Cody said. "I'm more
concerned about industrial contaminants and things like that. The list
is getting too long. Antibiotics in our meat, all kinds of things."

Delaware officials are worried enough that plans call for a stepped-up
campaign to discourage flushing of medications and other medicinal
chemicals in toilets. Development of disposal alternatives or drop-off
programs also are under consideration.

"From what I've seen from other states, I don't think that we're any
different than what's being found across the country, as far as surface
water and shallow groundwater," Hallock said.

Although results from individual wells and water intakes have not been
released, a summary of findings noted that 17 different drugs were found
in 101 samples of treated and untreated water from public systems. Tests
of 95 shallow farm irrigation wells detected 14 compounds. Some samples
had as many as nine different substances.

Researchers have pointed to discharges from sewage-treatment plants and
septic systems, sewage sludges, wastewater-fed irrigation systems and
landfills as likely sources. Concentrations were in the
parts-per-billion and parts-per-trillion range, however, far below
levels in prescription doses.

Delaware's study, which cost $200,000, tested for 23 compounds, but many
others not on the list are viewed as potentially harmful to humans,
including flame retardants, plasticizers used in bottles, insect
repellents and other medications and hormones.

Officials are preparing a report on the sampling and analysis
commissioned by Delaware's Cancer Consortium.

Dana W. Kolpin, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey's Iowa
Water Science Center, said scientists are concerned about the human and
environmental consequences. In addition to flushed-away medications,
human wastes carry away medicines not used by the body, Kolpin said.

Although some may be trapped in sewage sludge, they can be released to
groundwater as sludges are reused as farm fertilizers. Even landfilled
drugs can eventually find their way into drinking water, since liquids
emerging from modern dumps are often captured and sent through sewage
plants.

"It's not because of any negligence by treatment plants," Kolpin said.
"These compounds haven't been a part of the [treatment] equation, and
they're still not regulated."

The USGS and the EPA are preparing new studies of contamination levels
before and after treatment, Kolpin said, with a goal of helping to
develop new ways to reduce releases of the chemicals.

Filter claims unverified
While some home tap-filter producers claim their systems can capture
antibiotics and other contaminants, Kolpin said he was unaware of any
that have undergone comprehensive, independent testing.

"They may or may not do something out of the box, depending on how well
they've been maintained," Kolpin said. "But we've never done studies.
There's a lot we don't know, just because we're trying to catch up on
the products that are getting through."

The Brandywine is likely the largest carrier of pharmaceutical
contaminants, because it receives treated wastewater from multiple
sources as it courses through Pennsylvania, past Downingtown,
Coatesville and West Chester.

University of Delaware professor and state Water Supply Coordinator
Gerald Kauffman said that about 60 wastewater-treatment plants of
varying sizes discharge into tributaries of the Brandywine, Wilmington's
sole regular source of water. During past droughts, treated sewage and
the trace contaminants it carries accounted for as much as 15 percent of
all water reaching the city's treatment plant.

"Until we know more about it, in terms of developing methods of
treatment, it's best to limit the amount of pharmaceuticals that get
into the water supply by the very simple method of not flushing it, and
making sure it's packaged for disposal."

"The other thing that's being talked about is getting pharmaceutical
companies involved in disposal of their products, just as other
industries are," Kauffman said.

Laurie Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Waste Reduction Section
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Rd., MS 4555
Tallahassee FL 32399-2400
P: 850.245.8759
F: 850.245.8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us

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http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm
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