[Pharmwaste] Gender-bent fish found downstream of pharmaceutical plants - a diagram and an observation

Fri Oct 7 13:38:24 EDT 2011

Jack,

I did a quick review of a bit more of the body of scientific knowledge on intersex fish and have to ask whether the policy question should be, "Let's expend limited resources to fix a 5-8% problem, an 18-22% problem, or 16-100% problem?"  It may just depend on where you look, if not a dozen other factors.  As the last literature review below noted, there are still plenty of unknowns but the trend does not look good.  I wish we could get hard numbers on the percent of contribution specific to excreted and/or flushed pharmaceutical waste.  Maybe the policy question should start with, "Considering it might take 15 years to parse out the specific cause(s) and in lieu of hard numbers..."

Reproductive Disruption in Fish Downstream from an Estrogenic Wastewater Effluent
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es0720661
"Intersex white suckers comprised 18-22% of the population at the effluent site.  Intersex fish were not found at the upstream site."

Widespread Sexual Disruption in Wild Fish
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es9710870
"The incidence of intersexuality in male fish ranged from 4%, in both the laboratory population and at one of the field control sites, to 100% in two populations of roach sampled from rivers J and M downstream of sewage treatment works. The proportion of intersex males at downstream sites ranged from 16% (river F) to 100% (rivers J and M); at upstream sites ranged from 11.7% (river H) to 44.4% (river J); and at the control sites ranged from 4% (sites A and B) to 18.1% (site E)."

Lessons from Endocrine Disruption and Their Application to Other Issues Concerning Trace Organics in the Aquatic Environment
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/biomedical/stuartmilligan/ppt/sumpter%20edcs.pdf
"...the older the fish, the greater the degree of reproductive abnormality (results that still await explanation!). It took 15 years or more for the cause of these reproductive abnormalities to be explained (they were due to exposure to estrogenic chemicals present in the sewage treatment works (STW) effluents (10, 11)). We still do
not know the consequences of this phenomenon, nor do we know for how long it had been occurring prior to its accidental discovery 25 years ago."

Pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment: A critical review of the evidence for health effects in fish
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10408440903373590
"Although generally effect levels for pharmaceuticals are higher than those found in the environment, the risks to wild fish populations have not been thoroughly characterised, and there has been a lack of consideration given to the likely chronic nature of the exposures, or the potential for mixture effects. As global consumption of pharmaceuticals rises, an inevitable consequence is an increased level of contamination of surface and ground waters with these biologically active drugs, and thus in turn a greater potential for adverse effects in aquatic wildlife."

Mr. Burke Lucy
Integrated Waste Management Specialist
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
1001 I Street, PO Box 4025
Sacramento, CA 95812
Burke.Lucy at CalRecycle.ca.gov
916.341.6592

-----Original Message-----
From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] On Behalf Of Price, John L. "Jack"
Sent: Friday, October 07, 2011 5:39 AM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: RE: [Pharmwaste] Gender-bent fish found downstream of pharmaceutical plants - a diagram and an observation

A crude diagram of the results of this study (attached) yielded a couple of observations on which I would appreciate a critical look. I believe I have accurately captured the numerical results. I acknowledge that one study does not make a body of scientific knowledge. But the results did make me think.

1. The relative impact of the pharmaceutical plant on fish sexual abnormalities compared with the wastewater treatment plant is not surprising to me. I would expect the concentrations from the pharmaceutical plant's outfall to be many times that of the wastewater treatment plant.  Actual concentrations would have been a welcome addition to this study.

2. The relatively small percentages of sexual abnormalities (5-8%) in the fish sampled at Site A downstream of the wastewater treatment but upstream of the pharmaceutical plant would indicate a relatively small impact from excretion of unmetabolized medications (and unwanted medications flushed down the drain). It would be useful to know whether the percentage of abnormalities in fish upstream of Site A was, in fact, 0.  

>From observation #2, the obvious policy question is whether a 5-8% problem (impacts of medications from household excretion and disposal) is a priority. From a science-driven policy perspective, "Let's expend limited resources to fix a 5-8% problem" would seem to be a difficult argument to make in these times of constrained resources.

I sincerely invite feedback on these reflections.  Especially if I have misstated or misinterpreted the results and implications of this study.

Jack

John L. (Jack) Price
Environmental Manager
Waste Reduction MS 4555
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, FL  32399-2400
Phone:850.245.8751
Fax: 850.245.8811
john.l.price at dep.state.fl.us
www.dep.state.fl.us/waste
Please Note:  Florida has a very broad public records law.  Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are public records available to the public and media upon request.  Your e-mail is communications and may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

-----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: Monday, September 19, 2011 2:03 PM
To: pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Gender-bent fish found downstream of pharmaceutical plants

http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/newscience/2011/08/2011-0916-intersex-fish-drug-plant/

High levels of intersex fish are found in wild populations that live downstream to a pharmaceutical production plant, showing for the first time that the two are linked.

A French study finds that more than three-quarters of wild gudgeon fish examined had a mix of male and female traits in their sex organs if they lived directly downstream to a plant that manufactures pharmaceutical drugs.

Exposure to the chemical mix discharged from the nearby drug plant may contribute to the abnormalities, the researchers report in the journal Environmental International. The study is important because it is the first to link discharge from a drug manufacturing plant - rather than a sewage treatment plant - with physical and chemical changes in fish living downstream.

The researchers found that up to 80 percent of the fish they tested were intersex - that is, the fish had both male and female characteristics in their ovaries or testis. Intersex indicates endocrine disruption in fish that can foreshadow larger effects on fish populations because of reductions in breeding abilities.

Pharmaceuticals can enter the environment through sewage treatment plants after people excrete them or flush unwanted drugs down the toilet. They can also directly enter waterways via discharge into rivers and streams by drug manufacturing plants. Which source contributes more is not known.

This study provides an important step toward understanding their relative contributions.

Anglers - sometimes the first to see when things go awry in the fish they catch - noticed the swollen bellies and abnormal innards of these wild fish called gudgeons. Intrigued, a cadre of researchers from several French laboratories followed up. They collected fish by electroshock once in 2008 and once in 2009 from three points along the Dore River in France. Site A - used as the reference site - was upstream of a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant but below a city wastewater treatment facility. Site B was downstream to the plant and a different waste treatment facility for the city of Vertolaye.

Fish ovaries or testis were examined to identify gender and identify abnormalities. Species diversity and abundance were also calculated at each site to see if there were any site-specific effects on fish populations.

Researchers found that 80 percent of wild gudgeons caught downstream to a pharmaceutical processing plant in 2008 were intersex. This was in stark contrast to the 5 percent of intersex fish detected at site A, the location upstream to a drug manufacturing plant. The findings were consistent the following year - 55 percent of the fish at sites B were intersex when compared to 8 percent at site A.

The scientists also collected fish even further downstream from the factory and site B. They wanted to see if the intersex effect persisted far from the point of origin. At this distant site - site C - they found 56 and 44 percent of intersex fish in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Interestingly, the increase in intersex fish coincided with a decrease in the number of females. This suggests that "something in the water" at sites B and C masculinized female fish. What exactly that is could not be determined from this study.

Finally, there were far fewer fish at sites B and C (177 and 74) relative to the 301 fish at site A. Species diversity was also lower at sites B and C:  eight species were identified at site A upstream of the drug manufacturing plant compared to 6 species at site B and only 3 at site C.

The main finding - that pharmaceutical plant discharge is associated with intersex in fish - is new. However, the study would have benefited if the authors had identified the types and levels of pharmaceutical drugs in the water at each site. More targeted research is needed to understand the degree of the association.

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
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/

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