[Pharmwaste] Re: Pharmwaste Digest, Vol 98, Issue 6
Ronald Ney
randsney at gmail.com
Fri Dec 6 14:35:52 EST 2013
To: Diane Buxbaum, MPH
Environmental Scientist
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Region 2
Division of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance
From: Ronald E. Ney, Jr.,PhD
Subject: Pharmwaste Digest, Vol 98, Issue 6
Dear Ms. Buxbaum:
There are other questions that concern wastewater and the many unknowns for
pharmaceuticals and other chemicals being discharged and they are;
1. Does EPA require residue data (residue data meaning parent and
degradation products) on reclaimed or recycle wastewater which can contain
not only pharmaceutical waste but thousands of other chemicals including
metals, pesticides, dioxins, etc.?
· What EPA Regulations would regulate the chemicals in treated
wastewater and would that include water for watering home owner’s lawns?
2. Will these chemicals in treated wastewater or recycle wastewater be a
hazard to children, adults, persons with immune disorders and pets if the
water is used to water lawns?
· Are there any EPA regulations to protect these from chemicals in
wastewater?
· If a home owner has a food garden will these be taken-up by the
food plants and if so, does EPA have any data on parent and degradates?
3. Does EPA know if any of the chemicals in wastewater can be bound to
organic matter in soil, suspended sediment and sediment?
· Can these bound residues be released by standard extraction methods
and if so is there a material balance of the parent chemical to prove such?
4. Does EPA know what the breakdown products from pharmaceuticals are
and have methods to extract and determine them?
5. Does EPA know the fate and transport of these pharmaceuticals in air,
water, soil, plants and animals and other chemicals that can be in
wastewater?
6. Does EPA have analytes to discern recovery of these chemicals from
air, water, soil, plants and animals?
7. What Federal Government Agency is protecting us and under what
regulation?
Respectfully,
Dr. Ron Ney
On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 8:00 AM, <pharmwaste-request at lists.dep.state.fl.us>wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. RE: Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals ineffluents
> from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US
> andimplications for risk estimation (Jim Mullowney)
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Jim Mullowney" <jmullowney at pharma-cycle.com>
> To: "'Ed Gottlieb'" <egottlieb at cityofithaca.org>, "'Buxbaum, Diane'" <
> Buxbaum.Diane at epa.gov>, "'DeBiasi, Deborah \(DEQ\)'" <
> Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov>, "'Zimmer, Catherine'" <
> zenllc at usfamily.net>, <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
> Cc: abuxbaum at downtownwomen.com, ATL-LEADERS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG,
> cbuxbaum at sandiaprep.org
> Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:59:32 -0500
> Subject: RE: [Pharmwaste] Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals
> ineffluents from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US
> andimplications for risk estimation
>
> Hi Ed and Diane,
>
> I would like to add to Catherine’s List.
>
> In August The World Health Organization published a Handbook on health
> care waste management and highlighted a group of Pharmaceuticals called
> Genotoxic and stated
>
>
>
> Any discharge of genotoxic waste into the environment could have
> disastrous ecological consequences.
>
>
>
> Most Genotoxic drugs are used in cancer treatment and 27 of them are
> excreted heavily in the patients urine, feces and vomit for 48 hours after
> treatment. The WHO states that it is the responsibility of the Pharmacist
> to control Genotoxic waste including the human waste and it is the
> responsibility of those involved in paying for the treatment cover the
> cost. We are the United States of America, we put a car on the moon, we can
> collect pee in a cup.
>
> I am attaching a list of the 27 bad actors.
>
>
>
> Jim Mullowney
>
> jmullowney at pharma-cycle.com
>
>
>
> *From:* pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [mailto:
> pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] *On Behalf Of *Ed Gottlieb
> *Sent:* Friday, December 06, 2013 8:44 AM
> *To:* Buxbaum, Diane; DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ); Zimmer, Catherine;
> pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> *Cc:* abuxbaum at downtownwomen.com; ATL-LEADERS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG;
> cbuxbaum at sandiaprep.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Pharmwaste] Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals
> ineffluents from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US
> andimplications for risk estimation
>
>
>
> Hi Diane,
>
>
>
> I would add to Catherine's list:
>
> Change prescribing guidelines (based on inventory data from take-back
> events) to help reduce the amount of waste medications generated.
>
> Ed Gottlieb
> Chair, Coalition for Safe Medication Disposal
> Industrial Pretreatment Coordinator
> Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility
> 525 3rd Street
> Ithaca, NY 14850
> (607) 273-8381
> fax: (607) 273-8433
>
>
> >>> "Catherine Zimmer" <zenllc at usfamily.net> 12/5/2013 4:03 PM >>>
>
> Hi Diane,
>
>
>
> From everything I’ve read it would take a multitude of treatment regimens
> to address the plethora of pharmaceuticals (and other contaminants) in our
> wastewater systems. And, if we got breakdown, what would those breakdown
> products look like? Would they be biologically active? What kind of
> pollutants would they be?
>
>
>
> I hate to sound like a broken record, but a better strategy is to reduce
> and eliminate these things at the source. First, we stop using our surface
> waters as dumps. Industry has to re-use their own water, they can’t dump
> into rivers, lakes, oceans. WWTP, also re-use water. Households get
> educated on health improvements that don’t use drugs and MD support
> alternative treatments and less toxic/persistent pharmaceuticals when
> necessary. Individual households treat their sewage to remove rx. While
> this is a large undertaking, it seems ultimately a better outcome than
> trying to treat everything being dumped into the water.
>
>
>
> Very truly yours,
>
> Catherine Zimmer, MS, BSMT
> Principal
> Zimmer Environmental Improvement LLC
> Ph: 651.645.7509
>
>
>
> *From:* Buxbaum, Diane <Buxbaum.Diane at epa.gov>
>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 03, 2013 2:44 PM
>
> *To:* DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ) <Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov> ;
> pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
>
> *Cc:* abuxbaum at downtownwomen.com ; cbuxbaum at sandiaprep.org ;
> ATL-LEADERS at LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
>
> *Subject:* RE: [Pharmwaste] Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals
> ineffluents from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US
> andimplications for risk estimation
>
>
>
> I am ccing some nongovernmental environmental activists on this email
> Wow, how depressing. Were most or all of these plants secondary plants?
> Were any tertiary? Are there any ideas of nonprohibitive methods for
> reducing or eliminating the discharge of these pharmaceuticals into the
> receiving bodies? Would, in areas where there is the land, exposure to
> sunlight and ponds allow for the breakdown of these drugs (and how
> dangerous might those products be)? Probably not possible in most urban
> areas and even where possible very costly.
>
>
>
> Diane D. Buxbaum, MPH
>
> Environmental Scientist
>
> U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
>
> Region 2
>
> Division of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance
>
> 290 Broadway (21 East)
>
> New York, NY 10007
>
> buxbaum.diane at epa.gov
>
> Phone 212-637-3919
>
> Fax 212-637-4086
>
>
>
> *From:* pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [
> mailto:pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us<pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us>]
> *On Behalf Of *DeBiasi, Deborah (DEQ)
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 03, 2013 3:21 PM
> *To:* pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us
> *Subject:* [Pharmwaste] Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals in
> effluents from 50 large wastewater treatment plants in the US and
> implications for risk estimation
>
>
>
>
>
> Concentrations of prioritized pharmaceuticals in effluents from 50 large
> wastewater treatment plants in the US and implications for risk estimation
>
> Mitchell S. Kostich*, Angela L. Batt, James M. Lazorchak
>
> *Ecological Exposure Research Division, National Exposure Research
> Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King
> Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA*
>
>
>
>
>
> *ABSTRACT*
>
> We measured concentrations of 56 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs)
> in effluent samples from 50 large wastewater treatment plants across the
> US. Hydrochlorothiazide was found in every sample. Metoprolol, atenolol,
> and carbamazepine were found in over 90% of the samples. Valsartan had the
> highest concentration (5300 ng/L), and also had the highest average
> concentration (1600 ng/L) across all 50 samples. Estimates of potential
> risks to healthy human adults were greatest for six anti-hypertensive APIs
> (lisinopril, hydrochlorothiazide, valsartan, atenolol, enalaprilat, and
> metoprolol), but nevertheless suggest risks of exposure to individual APIs
> as well as their mixtures are generally very low. Estimates of potential
> risks to aquatic life were also low for most APIs, but suggest more
> detailed study of potential ecological impacts from four analytes
> (sertraline, propranolol, desmethylsertraline, and valsartan).
>
>
>
> Published by Elsevier Ltd.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Deborah L. DeBiasi
> *Email: Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov
> <Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov>*
> WEB site address: www.deq.virginia.gov
> Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
> Office of Water Permits
> Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program
> PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
>
>
> http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx
>
> Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218
> Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219
> PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032
>
>
> ------------------------------
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