[Pharmwaste] Mussels in Washington's Puget Sound test positive for opioids, other drugs

Sat May 26 09:01:22 EDT 2018

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/health/mussels-opioids-bn/index.html

Story highlights

   - Other drugs found included antibiotics, antidepressants, antidiabetics
   and a chemotherapy agent
   - Much of pharmaceuticals are probably coming from wastewater plants,
   biologist says

(CNN)Shellfish in the Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean along the
northwest coast of Washington, tested positive for the prescription opioid
oxycodone.
But that wasn't all, according to Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife biologist Jennifer Lanksbury. In the midst of a national opioid
crisis, the opioid may be the most attention-grabbing contaminant found,
but it could be the least worrisome.

The mussels also contained four kinds of synthetic surfactants -- the
chemicals found in detergents and cleaning products -- seven kinds of
antibiotics, five types of antidepressants, more than one antidiabetic drug
and one chemotherapy agent.

[image: Drinking water blamed in hundreds of illnesses, 13 deaths, CDC
reports]
<https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/09/health/cdc-water-contamination-reports/index.html>
Drinking water blamed in hundreds of illnesses, 13 deaths, CDC reports
<https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/09/health/cdc-water-contamination-reports/index.html>
Surfactants, in particular, are "known to have estrogenic effect on
organisms, so they affect the hormone system of some animals in an
estrogenic way, such as feminizing male fish and making female fish
reproductive before they're ready," Lanksbury explained.

Scientists have not studied whether mussels are harmed by oxycodone.
However, the presence of this drug in the mollusk speaks to the high number
of people in the urban areas surrounding the Puget Sound who take this
medication, said Lanksbury.
[image: Your drain on drugs: Amphetamines seep into Baltimore's streams]
<https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/25/health/meth-fish-baltimore/index.html>
Your drain on drugs: Amphetamines seep into Baltimore's streams
<https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/25/health/meth-fish-baltimore/index.html>
"A lot of the pharmaceuticals are probably coming out of our wastewater
treatment plants. They receive the water that comes from our toilets and
our houses and our hospitals, and so these drugs, we're taking them, and
then we're excreting them in our urine so it gets to the wastewater
treatment plant in that way," Lanksbury said. "Some people, unfortunately,
flush their drugs down the toilet, and that's a huge source of these
pharmaceuticals."

"The doses of oxycodone that we found in mussels are like 100 to 500 times
lower than you would need for an adult male therapeutic dose," she said.
"So you would have to eat 150 pounds of mussels from these contaminated
areas to even get a small dose. But just the fact that it's present tells
us it is getting into our waters, at least in urban areas."

The study findings suggest toxic contaminants are entering the food web of
the greater Puget Sound, especially along shorelines nearest Seattle and
other urban areas.

"What this is telling us is some of this stuff is coming out of our
wastewater treatment plants and so we need to do a better job either at
controlling the sources or trying to reduce the exposure in the Puget
Sound," said Lanksbury.
The results are from a special small-scale study. Every other year, she and
her colleagues monitor fish and shellfish from the Puget Sound --
specifically herring, English sole, Chinook salmon and most recently
mussels.
[image: Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution]
<https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/world/plastic-pollution-science-environment-enzyme-intl/index.html>
Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution
<https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/world/plastic-pollution-science-environment-enzyme-intl/index.html>
"Mussels have a simpler system than fish, and that makes them great for
monitoring," Lanksbury said.

Fish can metabolize some chemicals, but the mussels do not, so in many
cases, they are better at revealing contaminants in the water. To test the
water, Lanksbury and her team get clean mussels and put them in
antipredator cages. Citizen science volunteers stake the cages to the inner
tidal area of the Puget Sound at low tide, and the scientists collect them
after several months.
The group started mussel monitoring in winter 2013 and conducted two
additional surveys in 2016 and 2018.

During their biennial reviews <https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01925/>,
the group routinely tests samples for a suite of contaminants:
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs
<https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs>);
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE
<https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/polybrominated-diphenyl-ethers-pbdes>s),
which are flame retardants; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH
<https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/pahs_factsheet_cdc_2013.pdf>s),
which are chemicals resulting from the combustion of fossils fuels;
chlorinated pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT
<https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status>)
compounds; and six metals: lead, copper, zinc, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.
[image: It's not just the oceans: Microplastic pollution is all around
us]
<https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/22/health/microplastics-land-and-air-pollution-intl/index.html>
It's not just the oceans: Microplastic pollution is all around us
<https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/22/health/microplastics-land-and-air-pollution-intl/index.html>
Recently, Lanksbury and her colleagues had access to extra funding.
"We decided it was important for us to start looking for 'contaminants of
emerging concern
<https://www.epa.gov/wqc/contaminants-emerging-concern-including-pharmaceuticals-and-personal-care-products>,'
" she said. This term refers to pharmaceuticals and personal care products
-- including prescription drugs, detergents, shampoos and microplastic
beads -- that are increasingly being detected in waterways, such as the
Puget Sound.

"We sent 18 samples (of mussels) to a laboratory up in Canada and asked for
a suite of pharmaceutical and personal care products," Lanksbury said.
"When that data came back to us, we found oxycodone in three of those 18
samples."
[image: Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters]
<https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/01/health/houston-flood-water-contamination/index.html>
Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters
<https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/01/health/houston-flood-water-contamination/index.html>
One of the samples came from the shoreline of Seattle, and the two others
came from near Bremerton, she said.

"So to us, that says that the oxycodone problem is specific to the urban
waters of the Puget Sound. All of the other areas tested did not have
oxycodone.

"All of our species indicate where contamination is coming into the Puget
Sound," she explained. "Most of the shorelines of the Puget Sound are
pretty clean. It's these highly urbanized locations where we're starting to
get concerned about the levels of pharmaceuticals and personal care
products."
The population of the Puget Sound is slated to double over the next 10 to
20 years, Lanksbury noted, and a high proportion of that population is
expected to live on the shore. Urban centers across the country are
growing, as well.

"It's a nationwide problem," Lanksbury said.

A study conducted <https://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc_surfacewater.html>
by the US Geological Survey found measurable amounts of one or more
medications in 80% of the water samples drawn from 139 streams in 30 states.

Still, she is hopeful because wastewater treatment mechanisms have
improved, and improvements continue to be made. And the public is becoming
aware of the problem.

Meanwhile, Seattle residents need "to keep in mind that what they do at
home, what they put on their lawns, what they flush down the toilet ends up
in the Puget Sound," she said. "The Puget Sound is a jewel in Washington,
and if we all work together to keep it clean, we can make great strides."

-- 

Deborah L. DeBiasi

*Email:   Deborah.DeBiasi at deq.virginia.gov *WEB site address:
www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Water Permits
State Coordinator for Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET)
Programs
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents

http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx

http://www.deq.virginia.gov/DentalRule.aspx

Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218
Location:  1111 E. Main Street, Suite 1400  Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028      FAX:      804-698-4032
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