[Pharmwaste] Re: Pharmwaste Digest, Vol 58, Issue 1
Ronald Ney
randsney at gmail.com
Wed Aug 4 14:44:38 EDT 2010
PHARM RESIDUES IN CROPS
How do you really know what the total residues (parent and degradation
products) are without doing a radio tracer on parent chemical to discern
total extraction? Such is required for pesticides.
Dr. Ron Ney
Aug 4, 2010 at 7:50 AM, <pharmwaste-request at lists.dep.state.fl.us> wrote:
> Send Pharmwaste mailing list submissions to
> pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> pharmwaste-request at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> pharmwaste-owner at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Pharmwaste digest..."
>
> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Synthetic estrogen BPA coats cash register receipts
> (DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ))
> 2. Whatever happened to thermal depolymerization? (Stevan Gressitt)
> 3. Fwd: Safe Medicine Symposium - Just 5 Days Left to Submit a
> Proposal (Stevan Gressitt)
> 4. SF studied compost made from effluent (Tenace, Laurie)
> 5. Chemicals in rivers linked to sexual changes in fish -
> article, Canada (Tenace, Laurie)
> 6. Little testing being done locally of Rx drug levels in water
> (article from IN) (Tenace, Laurie)
> 7. Crops absorb Pharmaceuticals from treated sewage (article,
> C&EN News) (Tenace, Laurie)
> 8. Public Radio's Marketplace lauds "biosolids" pellets
> (Pete Pasterz)
> 9. S 3397 passes the Senate - Secure and Responsible Drug
> Disposal Act of 2010 (Sierra Fletcher)
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ)" <Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov>
> To: <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:49:18 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Synthetic estrogen BPA coats cash register receipts
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/26/AR201007
> 2605001.html
>
> Disputed chemical bisphenol-A found in paper receipts
>
> By Lyndsey Layton
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Tuesday, July 27, 2010; A13
>
>
>
> As lawmakers and health experts wrestle over whether a controversial
> chemical, bisphenol-A, should be banned from food and beverage
> containers, a new analysis by an environmental group suggests Americans
> are being exposed to BPA through another, surprising route: paper
> receipts.
>
> The Environmental Working Group found BPA on 40 percent of the receipts
> it collected from supermarkets, automated teller machines, gas stations
> and chain stores. In some cases, the total amount of BPA on the receipt
> was 1,000 times the amount found in the epoxy lining of a can of food,
> another controversial use of the chemical.
>
> Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst with the environmental group, says BPA's
> prevalence on receipts could help explain why the chemical can be
> detected in the urine of an estimated 93 percent of Americans, according
> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
>
> "We've come across potentially major sources of BPA right here in our
> daily lives," Lunder said. "When you're carrying around a receipt in
> your wallet for months while you intend to return something, you could
> be shedding BPA into your home, into your environment. If you throw a
> receipt into a bag of food, and it's lying there against an apple, or
> you shove a receipt into your bag next to a baby pacifier, you could be
> getting all kinds of exposure and not realize it."
>
> What remains unknown is how much of the chemical that may rub off onto
> the hands is absorbed through the skin or whether people then ingest BPA
> by handling food or touching their mouths.
>
> Among those surveyed, receipts from Safeway supermarkets contained the
> highest concentration of BPA. A receipt taken from a store in the
> District contained 41 milligrams of the chemical. If the equivalent
> amount of BPA was ingested by a 155-pound adult, that would exceed EPA's
> decades-old safe exposure limit for BPA by 12 times.
>
> Brian Dowling, a Safeway spokesman, said the company is researching the
> issue and consulting with its suppliers of receipt paper.
>
> First synthesized in 1891 and developed in the 1930s as a synthetic form
> of estrogen, bisphenol-A has been widely used in commercial products
> including plastic bottles, compact discs and dental sealants. While it
> was regarded as safe for decades, recent research using sophisticated
> analytic techniques suggests that low doses of the compound can
> interfere with the endocrine system and cause a range of health effects,
> including reproductive problems and cancer.
>
> Federal regulators have been focused on BPA and whether it leaches from
> containers into foods and beverages at levels that may cause health
> problems. Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration expressed
> "some concern" about BPA and joined several agencies in conducting $30
> million in studies to try to answer questions about its safety.
> Lawmakers on the local, state and federal levels have moved to ban BPA
> from food and beverage containers made for infants and children.
>
> The American Chemistry Council, which represents the chemical industry,
> said that while BPA can transfer from paper receipts to the skin, the
> level of absorption is low. "Available data suggests that BPA is not
> readily absorbed through the skin," a spokeswoman said. "Biomonitoring
> data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows that exposure to
> BPA from all sources, which would include typical exposure from
> receipts, is extremely low."
>
> The Environmental Protection Agency, however, recognizing that paper
> coated in BPA may be a significant route of exposure, launched an effort
> this month to work with paper manufacturers, the chemical industry and
> environmental groups to encourage companies to find alternatives to BPA
> in receipts.
>
> Appleton Papers, the nation's largest manufacturer of "thermal papers,"
> the type often used for receipts, dropped BPA from its formulation in
> 2006 out of growing concerns about the safety of the chemical, said Kent
> Willetts, the company's vice president of strategic development. "We
> just realized we'd rather move away from it sooner than later," Willetts
> said.
>
>
> The Environmental Working Group's report, with more detail and test
> results, can be found at:
>
> http://www.ewg.org/bpa-in-store-receipts
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Deborah L. DeBiasi
> Email: Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov (NEW!)
> WEB site address: www.deq.virginia.gov
> Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
> Office of Water Permit and Compliance Assistance Programs
> Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program
> PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
> www.deq.virginia.gov/vpdes/microconstituents.html
> Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218
> Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219
> PH: 804-698-4028
> FAX: 804-698-4032
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Stevan Gressitt <gressitt at gmail.com>
> To: pharmwaste <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:17:56 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Whatever happened to thermal depolymerization?
> http://www.mindfully.org/Energy/2003/Anything-Into-Oil1may03.htm
>
> --
>
>
>
>
> Stevan Gressitt, M.D.
> Faculty Associate, University of Maine Center on Aging
> Founding Director, Maine Institute for Medicine Safety
> University of New England, College of Pharmacy
> Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
> Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
> University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine
> 716 Stevens Avenue
> Portland, Maine 04103
> gressitt at gmail.com
> Cell: 207-441-0291
> www.benzos.une.edu
> www.safemeddisposal.com/
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Stevan Gressitt <gressitt at gmail.com>
> To: pharmwaste <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>, rxnews-list at naddi.org
> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:46:25 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Fwd: Safe Medicine Symposium - Just 5 Days Left to
> Submit a Proposal
>
> _______________________
>
> HURRY - Just 5 days are left to submit a presentation proposal!
> (Papers, Posters, Symposia, Panels, and Workshops)
>
> 2010 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON SAFE MEDICINE*
> October 10-12, 2010
> Portland, ME
>
> (*The oldest continuous running drug disposal conference in the United
> States)
>
> [ http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=205526 ]Click here to submit
> your presentation for consideration
>
> or go to:
>
> http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=205526
>
> Deadline for proposal submission: July 31st, 2010
>
> If you have any questions about the presentation proposal submission
> process please contact: safemedicine at une.edu
> _____________________________________________________
>
> We encourage you to forward this announcement on to your colleagues.
> Conference website with additional information ([
> http://www.safemedicine.une.edu ]www.safemedicine.une.edu)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
>
> Stevan Gressitt, M.D.
> Faculty Associate, University of Maine Center on Aging
> Founding Director, Maine Institute for Medicine Safety
> University of New England, College of Pharmacy
> Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
> Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
> University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine
> 716 Stevens Avenue
> Portland, Maine 04103
> gressitt at gmail.com
> Cell: 207-441-0291
> www.benzos.une.edu
> www.safemeddisposal.com/
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Tenace, Laurie" <Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us>
> To: "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us" <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:19:03 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] SF studied compost made from effluent
> "The PUC's study tested for 127 organic and inorganic toxins and compounds,
> according to Jue, and all of the products had levels below the state and
> federal standards."
>
> http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/28/BAC31EKITQ.DTL
>
> Study: S.F. compost no more toxic than others
> Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Compost made from the effluent that San Franciscans flush down their
> toilets does not contain any more toxins than the soil treatments and animal
> excrement available in garden stores, according to a San Francisco Public
> Utilities Commission study released Tuesday.
>
> The $25,000 study found that the biosolid compost that until recently had
> been given out free to San Francisco residents once a year is not, as
> critics contend, a stew of toxic excrement. On the contrary, the treated and
> dried sludge is at least as safe as seven other potting soils, manures and
> treatments, according to the report.
>
> "The data should comfort people," said Tyrone Jue, the spokesman for the
> San Francisco PUC. "It shows that just because you pay a lot of money for a
> product at a store does not mean that it is any better. Our biosolid compost
> compares favorably to the other products."
>
> San Francisco's program to give away compost to gardeners, school groups
> and homeowners began in 2007. The product, called Synagro CV Compost, came
> under attack this year by organic and food-safety activists who claimed the
> PUC program was essentially slinging feces and other discarded toxins back
> at the people who flushed them.
>
> The critics insisted that the heating and sterilization process used by the
> city does not neutralize heavy metals, pesticides or drug residue and that
> hundreds of chemicals contained in sewage sludge are never tested.
>
> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires testing for only nine
> pollutants, about 1 percent of the hazardous materials that could be found
> in sewage. Dioxins, flame retardants and PCBs are not among the chemicals
> tested.
>
> The PUC's study tested for 127 organic and inorganic toxins and compounds,
> according to Jue, and all of the products had levels below the state and
> federal standards. Jue said only Kellogg Amend-brand compost contained a
> level of dioxin - 65.97 parts per trillion - that was significantly higher
> than the average for natural soil. Soil in cities averages between 7 and 20
> parts per trillion of dioxin, he said. The San Francisco compost had 3.75
> parts per trillion of dioxin. Gardeners Steer Manure had the lowest level of
> dioxin, at 0.27 parts per trillion.
>
> Dioxin is a powerful hormone-disrupting chemical generally produced as a
> result of the burning of organic chemicals and plastics that contain
> chlorine.
>
> John Mayer, coordinator of the nonprofit Food Rights Network, said he
> believes the testing is still inadequate because many known sewer toxins
> were not tested and because there is no way of knowing whether the PUC was
> testing the same compost given away to residents.
>
> "This study still needs to be analyzed by our science people, but our
> contention is that there is nothing new here," Mayer said. "We don't think
> the stuff in the stores that has sludge in it should be used for growing
> food either."
>
> The report is expected to be presented to San Francisco's utility
> commissioners next month. A decision could then be made on whether to
> continue the compost program, which uses about 20 tons of the 82,000 tons of
> solid material removed from the city's sewer every year and mixes it with
> green yard waste and other material in a Merced County treatment facility.
>
>
>
>
> 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
>
> Mercury: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm
>
> Batteries:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/batteries/default.htm
>
> Pharmaceuticals:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm
> To join the Pharmwaste listserve:
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
>
> Household Hazardous Waste:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hazardous/pages/household.htm
>
>
>
>
>
> The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a
> customer. DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole is committed to continuously
> assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.
> Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of service you received.
> Copy the url below to a web browser to complete the DEP survey:
> http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.usThank you in advance for completing the survey.
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Tenace, Laurie" <Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us>
> To: "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us" <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:56:05 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Chemicals in rivers linked to sexual changes in fish
> - article, Canada
>
> http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/842142--chemicals-in-rivers-linked-to-sexual-changes-in-fish-researchers-say
>
>
> Chemicals in rivers linked to sexual changes in fish, researchers say
>
>
> CALGARY-Alberta researchers say gender-bending fish swimming in the
> province's southern rivers raise serious questions about whether the water
> is safe for people to drink.
>
> Two University of Calgary professors have been studying how a small species
> of minnow reacts to a wide variety of hormone-altering chemicals detected in
> several rivers.
>
> They found sexual changes both in the wild populations of the fish and
> under controlled lab experiments with the same chemicals, said co-author
> Hamid Habibi.
>
> In some locations, female fish accounted for as much as 90 per cent of the
> minnow population, far higher than the normal 55 to 60 per cent.
>
> At many of the sites studied, male fish showed elevated levels of a protein
> normally high only in the blood of females. Other areas have produced male
> fish with female eggs in their testes.
>
> Habibi said while it's not known whether the levels of the chemicals are
> high enough to hurt humans, there is a possible risk the chemicals could
> increase cancer rates or developmental abnormalities.
>
> "We think there's a health concern," he said Thursday. "We'd like to be
> able to predict these things and reduce that kind of risk."
>
> Habibi and co-author Lee Jackson found a large variety of chemicals that
> affect hormones in the water. They include synthetic estrogens, such as the
> birth control pill and bisphenol A - a chemical used in making plastics - as
> well as agricultural byproducts.
>
> The disturbances in fish populations were greater downstream from cities
> than upstream and were most notable around several major cattle feedlots.
>
> One area of high concentration was interrupted by a normal region where the
> river is joined by several tributaries from Waterton National Park.
>
> The researchers managed to replicate many of the changes in a lab
> environment by combining the chemicals in the same ratio as found in the
> river.
>
> They also discovered that while a single chemical might affect a fish one
> way, the combined effect with another chemical might be much greater than
> expected.
>
> In one case, two chemicals might each have a one-fold effect on a fish,
> while in combination the effect might be nine times bigger.
>
> "The potency of these chemicals improves significantly if they are present
> in a mixture. That is new information," said Habibi.
>
> "Which means some of the data used by Health Canada and EPA (the
> Environmental Protection Agency in the United States) may need to be
> revised, because they're based on individual studies for those chemicals."
>
> Jackson said most wastewater treatment plants don't get rid of many of the
> chemicals.
>
> The researchers have partnered with the City of Calgary to begin work at a
> new treatment plant investigating how engineering can keep the chemicals
> from flowing back into the water.
>
> He said it's too early to tell whether the current levels in water might
> have anything to do with a rising trend of cancers that are under hormonal
> control, but he added that a possible link should be studied.
>
> "I think we need to look at this a little more carefully and ask, what is
> the message the fish are telling us," he said. "If the fish are showing bent
> genders and people are drinking the same water . . . we need to try to
> evaluate that risk."
>
> Part of the research is to be published in the journal Environmental
> Toxicology and Chemistry.
>
> 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
>
> Mercury: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm
>
> Batteries:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/batteries/default.htm
>
> Pharmaceuticals:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm
> To join the Pharmwaste listserve:
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
>
> Household Hazardous Waste:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hazardous/pages/household.htm
>
>
>
>
> The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a
> customer. DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole is committed to continuously
> assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.
> Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of service you received.
> Copy the url below to a web browser to complete the DEP survey:
> http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.usThank you in advance for completing the survey.
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Tenace, Laurie" <Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us>
> To: "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us" <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:38:01 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Little testing being done locally of Rx drug levels
> in water (article from IN)
>
> http://www.wsbt.com/health/Little-testing-being-done-locally-of-drug-levels-in-water-99741924.html
>
>
> Little testing being done locally of prescription drug levels in water
>
> You've probably read or heard that scientists have found prescription drugs
> in water.
>
> For example, the Alliance for the Great Lakes reports that
> cholesterol-modifying drugs and a nicotine byproduct were among the
> pharmaceutical compounds found in Lake Michigan.
>
> Some of the same drugs also were found in Lake Erie, along with ibuprofen,
> caffeine and an anticonvulsant.
>
> But there apparently has been little or no testing for pharmaceuticals in
> local water.
>
> There are no standards for pharmaceuticals in drinking water or in water
> discharged from wastewater treatment plants.
>
> One local person most concerned about the issue is Marc Nelson,
> environmental health services manager with the St. Joseph County Health
> Department.
>
> His concern comes because scientists believe the vast majority of the drugs
> found in water are not unused drugs disposed of improperly.
>
> They are drugs not metabolized in the bodies of the people who take them
> and end up in the environment through human waste.
>
> Nelson believes there probably are pharmaceuticals in small concentrations
> in private wells in the northeastern part of the county.
>
> That's because waste in private septic tanks gets through the sandy soil
> there and into the groundwater, according to Nelson.
>
> "It's becoming a greater and greater problem," Nelson said of prescription
> drugs in the water.
>
> He said a layer of clay underground in the southern part of the county
> protects the groundwater there.
>
> South Bend and Mishawaka get their water from deep wells, deep enough that
> the people who operate the water departments believe the drinking water is
> safe from the problem.
>
> Jim Schrader, general manager of Mishawaka Utilities, said that so far,
> drugs have been found in surface water.
>
> "Fortunately we don't have that issue with deep water wells," he said.
>
> Dave Tungate, director of South Bend Water Works, said that city has nine
> wellfields with 30 wells, all of them at least 120 feet deep.
>
> He believes there may have been some pharmaceuticals in surface water for
> some time.
>
> Testing for low levels of prescription drugs is just now becoming
> available.
>
> The city of St. Joseph gets its water from Lake Michigan, but water
> superintendent Greg Alimenti said the city doesn't test for pharmaceuticals.
>
> He said testing is expensive and isn't yet required by the federal or state
> governments.
>
> Alimenti believes eventually there will be standards because of public
> concern over the issue.
>
> Wastewater treatment plants also don't test for pharmaceuticals in the
> water they discharge. Cost and lack of regulations are cited as the reasons.
>
> Jack Dillon, superintendent of wastewater treatment in South Bend, said the
> cities already test for "a couple hundred contaminants."
>
> Karl Kopec, manager of the wastewater treatment plant in Mishawaka,
> believes the plant removes some of the pharmaceuticals in treated water.
>
> He said the Mishawaka plant removes 90 percent of the mercury that goes
> through it, even though it was not designed to remove mercury.
>
> Everybody is waiting for direction from the U.S. Environmental Protection
> Agency and, hopefully, lower prices on the testing.
>
> Ernesta Jones, from the EPA press office, sent out an e-mail saying the
> agency "remains committed to improving our understanding of pharmaceuticals
> in water."
>
> "We continue to work to better understand the occurrence, risk and
> treatment of pharmaceuticals in water, as well as methods for preventing
> pharmaceuticals from entering water," the statement continued. "EPA will
> continue to use the best science to address environmental and health
> concerns posed by pharmaceuticals in water."
>
> Local officials stressed that unused medicine should not be flushed down
> the toilet, even though that accounts for little of the drugs in water.
>
> Instead, unused drugs should be put in the trash if you can't find any
> facilities that will accept them.Staff writer Sue Lowe: slowe at sbtinfo.com(574) 247-7758 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting
>
> 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
>
> Mercury: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm
>
> Batteries:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/batteries/default.htm
>
> Pharmaceuticals:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm
> To join the Pharmwaste listserve:
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
>
> Household Hazardous Waste:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hazardous/pages/household.htm
>
>
>
>
> The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a
> customer. DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole is committed to continuously
> assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.
> Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of service you received.
> Copy the url below to a web browser to complete the DEP survey:
> http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.usThank you in advance for completing the survey.
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Tenace, Laurie" <Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us>
> To: "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us" <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 08:11:05 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Crops absorb Pharmaceuticals from treated sewage
> (article, C&EN News)
> http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/88/i32/8832news.html
>
>
> Crops Absorb Pharmaceuticals From Treated Sewage
> Environmental Pollutants: Soybeans can accumulate drugs and personal care
> products commonly found in wastewater and solid waste
>
> Uptake of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products by Soybean Plants from
> Soils Applied with Biosolids and Irrigated with Contaminated Water
>
> Each year, U.S. farmers fertilize their fields with millions of tons of
> treated sewage and irrigate with billions of gallons of recycled water.
> Through this treated waste, an array of pharmaceutical and personal care
> products (PPCPs) make their way unregulated from consumers' homes into farm
> fields. Now researchers find that at least one crop, soybeans, can readily
> absorb these chemicals, which raises concerns about the possible effects on
> people and animals that consume the PPCP-containing plants (Environ. Sci.
> Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es1011115).
>
> Researchers have previously shown that food crops take up veterinary
> medicines from manure fertilizer and some cabbage species absorb human
> pharmaceuticals when grown in hydroponic conditions. But environmental
> scientist Chenxi Wu and colleagues at the University of Toledo in Ohio
> wanted to determine if a major food crop could absorb common PPCPs under
> more realistic agricultural conditions, such as plants grown in soil. If
> the chemicals do find their way into the crops under real-life conditions,
> they could be toxic to the plants, Wu says. "Or they could accumulate
> through the food chain, and eventually end up in human consumers," he adds.
>
> In a greenhouse experiment, the scientists focused on soybeans, the second
> most-widely grown crop in the U.S. Half the plants grew in PPCP-tainted
> soil, to simulate fertilization with treated solid waste, while the
> researchers irrigated the other half with chemical-spiked water, to
> replicate wastewater irrigation. They laced water and soil with three
> pharmaceuticals-carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, and fluoxetine-and two
> antimicrobial compounds found in personal care products-triclosan and
> triclocarban.
>
> The scientists analyzed plant tissue samples by mass spectrometry at two
> life stages: just before the soybeans flowered and after they sprouted
> beans. Wu and colleagues found that carbamazepine, triclosan, and
> triclocarban concentrated in root tissues, eventually moving into the stems
> and leaves. The antimicrobial compounds triclosan and triclocarban also
> accumulated in the beans themselves. But the soybean plants barely absorbed
> diphenhydramine and fluoxetine-the chemicals only appeared at low
> concentrations in the roots. Overall, the plants absorbed the chemicals more
> efficiently by irrigation than through the soil. The researchers are still
> trying to determine why.
>
> Environmental chemist Chad Kinney of Colorado State University, Pueblo,
> says the study underscores the need for further research into how PPCPs
> behave in agricultural settings. "The first thing you have to consider with
> human exposure through agriculture is whether it's even possible," Kinney
> says. "That's what was answered by this study."
>
> Wu thinks that more toxicology studies should come next: "If you find those
> compounds in the plant, what are they going to do to the plants or to
> animals that eat the plants?"
>
>
>
>
>
> 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
>
> Mercury: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/mercury/default.htm
>
> Batteries:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/batteries/default.htm
>
> Pharmaceuticals:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/medications/default.htm
> To join the Pharmwaste listserve:
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
>
> Household Hazardous Waste:
> http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/hazardous/pages/household.htm
>
>
>
>
>
> The Department of Environmental Protection values your feedback as a
> customer. DEP Secretary Michael W. Sole is committed to continuously
> assessing and improving the level and quality of services provided to you.
> Please take a few minutes to comment on the quality of service you received.
> Copy the url below to a web browser to complete the DEP survey:
> http://survey.dep.state.fl.us/?refemail=Laurie.Tenace@dep.state.fl.usThank you in advance for completing the survey.
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Pete Pasterz <PAPasterz at cabarruscounty.us>
> To: Sludge <sludge at lists.ibiblio.org>, "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us"
> <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 08:34:33 -0400
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] Public Radio's Marketplace lauds "biosolids" pellets
>
> From the “Sustainability Desk”
> http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/03/am-its-a-fertile-market-for-recycled-human-waste/
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> þ Pete Pasterz, NCQRP
>
> Cabarrus County Recycling and HHW
>
> PO BOX 707
>
> Concord, NC 28026
>
> 704-920-3280
>
> www.cabarruscounty.us/waste
>
> *If you're not for ZERO Waste, how much Waste ARE you for?*
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
> E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North
> Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Sierra Fletcher <sierra at productstewardship.us>
> To: "pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us" <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 08:49:59 -0500
> Subject: [Pharmwaste] S 3397 passes the Senate - Secure and Responsible
> Drug Disposal Act of 2010
>
> Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010
> passed the Senate yesterday! The purpose of this bill is to amend the
> Controlled Substances Act to facilitate drug take-back.
>
>
>
> HR 5809, the House bill with the same goal, passed the Energy and Commerce
> Committee in late July. Watch for it to go to the House floor in September!
>
>
>
> Update on Senate bill:
>
>
>
> http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s3397/show
>
>
>
>
>
> _____________________________
>
> *Sierra E. Fletcher*
>
> Director of Policy and Programs
>
> *Product Stewardship Institute, Inc.*
>
> 29 Stanhope St., 3rd Floor
>
> Boston, MA 02116
>
> 617-236-4886 (phone)
>
> sierra at productstewardship.us
>
> www.productstewardship.us
>
> * *
>
> *Click to follow us on **Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Product-Stewardship-Institute/224328115936?ref=ts>
> ** and **Twitter <http://twitter.com/productsteward>***
>
> * *
>
> S. 3397
>
> * Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
> United States of America in Congress assembled,*
>
> *SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.*
>
> This Act may be cited as the ``Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act
> of 2010''.
>
> *SEC. 2. FINDINGS.*
>
> Congress finds the following:
>
> (1) The nonmedical use of prescription drugs is a growing problem in
> the United States, particularly among teenagers.
>
> (2) According to the Department of Justice's 2009 National Prescription
> Drug Threat Assessment--
>
> (A) the number of deaths and treatment admissions for controlled
> prescription drugs (CPDs) has increased significantly in recent years;
>
> (B) unintentional overdose deaths involving prescription opioids, for
> example, increased 114 percent from 2001 to 2005, and the number of
> treatment admissions for prescription opioids increased 74 percent from 2002
> to 2006; and
>
> (C) violent crime and property crime associated with abuse and
> diversion of CPDs has increased in all regions of the United States over the
> past 5 years.
>
> (3) According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy's 2008
> Report ``Prescription for Danger'', prescription drug abuse is especially on
> the rise for teens--
>
> (A) one-third of all new abusers of prescription drugs in 2006 were 12-
> to 17-year-olds;
>
> (B) teens abuse prescription drugs more than any illicit drug except
> marijuana--more than cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine combined; and
>
> (C) responsible adults are in a unique position to reduce teen access
> to prescription drugs because the drugs often are found in the home.
>
> (4)(A) Many State and local law enforcement agencies have established
> drug disposal programs (often called ``take-back'' programs) to facilitate
> the collection and destruction of unused, unwanted, or expired medications.
> These programs help get outdated or unused medications off household shelves
> and out of the reach of children and teenagers.
>
> (B) However, take-back programs often cannot dispose of the most
> dangerous pharmaceutical drugs--controlled substance medications--because
> Federal law does not permit take-back programs to accept controlled
> substances unless they get specific permission from the Drug Enforcement
> Administration and arrange for full-time law enforcement officers to receive
> the controlled substances directly from the member of the public who seeks
> to dispose of them.
>
> (C) Individuals seeking to reduce the amount of unwanted controlled
> substances in their household consequently have few disposal options beyond
> discarding or flushing the substances, which may not be appropriate means of
> disposing of the substances.
>
> (D) Long-term care facilities face a distinct set of obstacles to the
> safe disposal of controlled substances due to the increased volume of
> controlled substances they handle.
>
> (5) This Act gives the Attorney General authority to promulgate new
> regulations, within the framework of the Controlled Substances Act, that
> will allow patients to deliver unused pharmaceutical controlled substances
> to appropriate entities for disposal in a safe and effective manner
> consistent with effective controls against diversion.
>
> (6) The goal of this Act is to encourage the Attorney General to set
> controlled substance diversion prevention parameters that will allow public
> and private entities to develop a variety of methods of collection and
> disposal of controlled substances in a secure and responsible manner.
>
> [Page: S6667] * GPO's PDF <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2010_record&page=S6667&position=all>*
>
> *SEC. 3. DELIVERY OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES BY ULTIMATE USERS FOR
> DISPOSAL.*
>
> (a) *Regulatory Authority*.--Section 302 of the Controlled Substances
> Act (21 U.S.C. 822) is amended by adding at the end the following:
>
> ``(g)(1) An ultimate user who has lawfully obtained a controlled
> substance in accordance with this title may, without being registered,
> deliver the controlled substance to another person for the purpose of
> disposal of the controlled substance if--
>
> ``(A) the person receiving the controlled substance is authorized under
> this title to engage in such activity; and
>
> ``(B) the disposal takes place in accordance with regulations issued by
> the Attorney General to prevent diversion of controlled substances.
>
> ``(2) In developing regulations under this subsection, the Attorney
> General shall take into consideration the public health and safety, as well
> as the ease and cost of program implementation and participation by various
> communities. Such regulations may not require any entity to establish or
> operate a delivery or disposal program.
>
> ``[(2)]*(3)* The Attorney General may, by regulation, authorize
> long-term care facilities, as defined by the Attorney General by regulation,
> to dispose of controlled substances on behalf of ultimate users *who
> reside, or have resided, at such long-term care facilities* in a manner
> that the Attorney General determines will provide effective controls against
> diversion and be consistent with the public health and safety.
>
> ``(4) If a person dies while lawfully in possession of a controlled
> substance for personal use, any person lawfully entitled to dispose of the
> decedent's property may deliver the controlled substance to another person
> for the purpose of disposal under the same conditions as provided in
> paragraph (1) for an ultimate user.''.
>
> (b) *Conforming Amendment*.--Section 308(b) of the Controlled
> Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 828(b)) is amended--
>
> (1) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting
> ``; or''; and
>
> (2) by adding at the end the following:
>
> ``(3) the delivery of such a substance for the purpose of disposal by
> an ultimate user or long-term care facility acting in accordance with
> section 302(g) of this title.''.
>
> *SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE TO THE UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION.*
>
> Pursuant to its authority under section 994 of title 28, United States
> Code, the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and, if
> appropriate, amend the Federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements
> to ensure that the guidelines and policy statements provide an appropriate
> penalty increase of up to 2 offense levels above the sentence otherwise
> applicable in Part D of the Guidelines Manual if a person is convicted of a
> drug offense resulting from the authorization of that person to receive
> scheduled substances from an ultimate user or long-term care facility as set
> forth in the amendments made by section 3.
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
> Note: As a courtesy to other listserv subscribers, please post messages to
> the listserv in plain text format to avoid the garbling of messages received
> by digest recipients.
> ---
> TO SUBSCRIBE, go to:
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pharmwaste
> TO UNSUBSCRIBE, DO NOT REPLY TO THE LISTSERV. Please send an e-mail to
> pharmwaste-unsubscribe at lists.dep.state.fl.us -- the subject line and body
> of the e-mail should be blank.
> If you believe you may be subscribed with a different email address, please
> visit the subscriber listing at
> http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/mailman/roster/pharmwaste
> FOR PROBLEMS: Contact List Administrator Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us
> SEND MAIL to the list server at: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.dep.state.fl.us/pipermail/pharmwaste/attachments/20100804/ede62e5f/attachment-0001.htm
More information about the Pharmwaste
mailing list