[Pharmwaste] Testing reveals low levels of drugs in drinking water source - Ohio article

[Tenace, Laurie]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/testing-reveals-low-levels-of-drugs-in-drinking-water-source-1275275.html


Low levels of prescription drugs and personal care products have been detected in area rivers, streams and in the Great Miami Buried Aquifer, the drinking water source for 1.6 million residents of this region.

Concentrations of these drugs are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per trillion and well below medical doses. Michael P. Ekberg, the Miami Conservancy District’s manager of water resource monitoring, described the levels as “grains of sugar in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.”

The risk of long-term exposure to these compounds on aquatic life and humans is uncertain, largely because the concentrations of these “emerging contaminants” are so low, said Pete Cassell, spokesman for the U.S. EPA. The contaminants are called “emerging” because new technology now allows very low concentrations of the chemicals to be detected.

There are no known human health effects from such low-level exposures in drinking water. Special scenarios, such as fetal exposure to low levels of medications that a mother would ordinarily avoid, require more investigation, Cassell said.

This is a hot area of research, said Ekberg. “It’s evolving.”

In a fall 2010 to spring 2011 sampling project, the Miami Conservancy District tested bodies of water as far north as DeGraff in Shelby County and south to the city of Fairfield in Butler County. The testing was done at differing locations types, including three municipal wastewater treatment plant discharge sites; surface water at 20 locations and groundwater at 10.

Overall, 17 pharmaceutical and personal care products or PPCPs — out of 21 — were detected including Diazepam a drug commonly used for treating anxiety; Butalbital, a barbiturate pain reliever; Sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic and testosterone, a reproductive hormone. Other more common compounds found were acetaminophen, ibuprofen and caffeine.

“We have not been monitoring long enough to say there is a trend,” Ekberg said.

The majority of the region’s drinking water is drawn from an underground aquifer, a sand-and-gravel deposit as thick as 200 feet, which stores roughly 1.3 trillion gallons of water. This sampling project marked the first time the conservancy district tested groundwater for “emerging” contaminants.

The conservancy district found 11 pharmaceutical or personal care product compounds in its groundwater sampling. Sulfamethoxazole (an antibiotic) was the most frequently detected compound.

“It was detected in 13 out of 18 groundwater samples,” Ekberg said. “What do we do with the results? There are no federal or state standards to measure them against.”

The conservancy district expects to release a full report of its findings by the end of the year.

U.S. EPA research shows the PPCPs can be found in any body of water where raw or treated sewage is discharged, including rivers, streams, groundwater and many drinking water sources. Pills we take are not fully absorbed by our bodies, and are excreted, then passed into wastewater. Flushing unused or outdated medications, is another common means of disposal. And some PPCPs also leach into groundwater from septic systems.

The highest concentrations of PPCPs the conservancy district found were at sites where municipal wastewater treatment plants discharge treated water into rivers.

“There is growing awareness that everything we use ends up in the environment somewhere,” Ekberg said. “Maybe the best approach isn’t to flush (drugs) down the toilet.”

On Saturday, county sheriff’s offices and police departments around the region are participating in National Drug Take Back Day, offering residents a chance to safely dispose of unwanted, unused and expired prescription drugs.

Local hospitals told the Dayton Daily News in December that workers routinely pour small amounts of unused drugs such as morphine and methadone down the drain, largely out of concern that those substances could be retrieved and abused.

The practice concerns?some environmental groups, who cite fears about the potential long-term effect trace amounts of those drugs could have on wildlife and humans.

But the Food and Drug Administration recommends the flushing of certain drugs, such as narcotic pain relievers, to curb the risk of unintentional use, overdose, or illegal abuse.

The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association’s materials management group is exploring whether there is a cost-efficient way to collect pharmaceutical compounds and dispose of them without sending them down the drain, said Bryan Bucklew, GDAHA’s president and CEO.

Neither the city of Dayton nor Montgomery County test for PPCPs in their drinking water system. Both rely on the U.S. EPA’s science-driven list of contaminants and contaminant candidates to determine which compounds to test for and ultimately treat.

“Dayton’s water is of high quality and it is safe to drink,” Tammie Clements, Dayton’s director of water, said. “Dayton water meets all regulations and standards it’s required to meet.”

Clements and Pat Turnbull, Montgomery County’s director of environmental services, said these emerging contaminants are being found in parts per trillion, while most compounds that?require testing and treatment are found in parts per billion. “The levels being detected are just so small. The data isn’t there to make any conclusions,” Clements said.

The treatment for emerging contaminants can be expensive, Clements said, because no single process will take care of them all.

“We don’t know if these chemicals are going to be harmful, it’s just going to drive up the cost for safe water,” she 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
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/




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