[Pharmwaste] FW: 99.9% of drugs in water are from excretion

[Taam, Damon]

What about pharmaceutical disposal via the sewers and leachate leaking
directly into the ground and surface waters, landfills do leak.

 

Damon M.K. Taam

Spokane Regional Solid Waste System

221 N. Wall, Suite 410

Spokane, WA 99201

 

(509) 625-6580 Office

(509) 625-6537 Fax

 

dtaam at spokanecity.org

 

www.solidwaste.org



 

From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Tenace,
Laurie
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 10:33 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] FW: 99.9% of drugs in water are from excretion 

 

Several months ago a list serve member mentioned that 99.9% of active
pharmaceutical ingredient surface water releases were from patient
excretion. I stumbled across this reference to that number the other
day:

 

page 69 of
http://nepis.epa.gov/EPA/html/DLwait.htm?url=/Adobe/PDF/P1001AWF.PDF (or
section 6.3)

 

EPA performed a literature search for studies or reports on
pharmaceuticals disposed of in landfills. EPA found that in 2007, the
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) evaluated
the potential for 24 active pharmaceutical ingredients to leach from MSW
landfills and their potential releases to surface water (Tischler,
2007). PhRMA compared the modeled landfill leachate releases to
estimates of surface water releases from disposal of unused
pharmaceuticals down the drain. PhRMA selected the 24 example
pharmaceutical ingredients to represent a range of sales per year in the
U.S. (i.e., high quantities and low quantities) and a range of
physical-chemical properties. These pharmaceutical ingredients were also
evaluated in the 2002 USGS study of pharmaceuticals in surface waters
(Kolpin et al., 2002).

 

The PhRMA study calculated that the landfill disposal pathway to surface
water accounted for an average of 0.03% to 0.10% of the estimated
aggregate annual surface water releases for the 24 active pharmaceutical
ingredients. Therefore, the study estimated that over 99.9% of active
pharmaceutical ingredient surface water releases would be due to patient
excretion, not landfill disposal of unused medicines, assuming that
landfill disposal were used for all unused medicine disposal. The
evaluation was based on the assumption that the efficiency of the
pharmaceuticals partitioning to solids in the landfill is 50% of the
efficiency of partitioning in a biological wastewater treatment unit
(Tischler, 2007).

 

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.ht
m

 

 

 

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