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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>While we are curious about the method and
scientific inquiry of AP in conducting environmental risk assessment,
specifically water quality and identification of certain compounds, the results
very consistent with other findings from more scientific groups. Additionally,
we may have clues to the type of drugs found in the water samples. Data from
samples of drug take-back and disposal programs have indicated that
psychotherapeutic drugs are the most common unused and expired drugs that are
returned, or otherwise flushed down the toilet or sink. We also estimated from
actual pill (tablet and capsule) count that about 40% of prescription drugs are
never used by the patient/consumer, and these drugs would eventually end in the
water supply. For more info, contact us or visit the Maine Benzodiazepine
Study Group (www.mainebenzo.org). There is an upcoming conference in Oct 2008
to continue this discussion, and sponsors and underwriters are invited. If you
are involved in this area or are concerned about drugs in the water supply,
join us in October.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Matthew C. Mireles, PhD, MPH<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>President and CEO<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Community Medical Foundation for Patient
Safety<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>www.comofcom.com<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us
[mailto:pharmwaste-bounces@lists.dep.state.fl.us] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Michele Berger<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Sunday, March 09, 2008 12:55
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Pharmwaste] pharmwaste</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'>AP news on drugs in the water Sunday morning 3/9/08<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
10.0pt'><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_on_re_us/pharmawater_i</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<h1><b><font size=6 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:24.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>AP probe finds drugs in drinking water <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
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<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN
PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writers 54 minutes ago <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including
antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been
found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an
Associated Press investigation shows.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>To be sure, the concentrations of these
pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or
trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their
water is safe.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>But the presence of so many prescription
drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so
much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term
consequences to human health.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>In the course of a five-month inquiry, the
AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of
24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey,
from <st1:City w:st="on">Detroit</st1:City> to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Louisville</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Ky.</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Water providers rarely disclose results of
pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head
of a group representing major <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information"
and might be unduly alarmed.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>How do the drugs get into the water?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>People take pills. Their bodies absorb some
of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the
toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs,
rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water
treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all
drug residue.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>And while researchers do not yet understand
the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of
low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually
unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells
and wildlife.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"We recognize it is a growing concern
and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant
administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Members of the AP National Investigative
Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water
databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and
interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also
surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water
providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Here are some of the key test results
obtained by the AP:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_Officials in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Philadelphia</st1:place></st1:City> said testing there discovered 56
pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines
for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and
heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the
city's watersheds.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications
were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million
people in <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey
analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant,
which serves 850,000 people in <st1:place w:st="on">Northern New Jersey</st1:place>,
and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine
in drinking water.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_A sex hormone was detected in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>'s drinking
water.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_The drinking water for <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place>,
and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>_Three medications, including an antibiotic,
were found in drinking water supplied to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Tucson</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Ariz.</st1:State></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The situation is undoubtedly worse than
suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers
documented by the AP. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The federal government doesn't require any
testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water
providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34
that haven't: <st1:City w:st="on">Houston</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on">Miami</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Baltimore</st1:City>,
<st1:City w:st="on">Phoenix</st1:City>, <st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City>
and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s
Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million
people. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Some providers screen only for one or two
pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The AP's investigation also indicates that
watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are
contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major
providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Yet officials in six of those 28
metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water —
Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa
Clara, Calif., and New York City. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
York</st1:place></st1:State> state health department and the USGS tested the
source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart
medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and
a tranquilizer. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>City water officials declined repeated requests
for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s drinking water continues to
meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the
watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace
pharmaceuticals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>In several cases, officials at municipal or
regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been
detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent
researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in <st1:City
w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:City> said their water had not been tested for
pharmaceuticals, but a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Tulane</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> researcher and
his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the
sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in
treated drinking water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where
tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only <st1:City w:st="on">Albuquerque</st1:City>;
<st1:City w:st="on">Austin</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State>;
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Virginia Beach</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">Va.</st1:State></st1:place>; said tests were negative. The drinking
water in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dallas</st1:place></st1:City>
has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Arlington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Texas</st1:State></st1:place>,
acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking
water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The AP also contacted 52 small water
providers — one in each state, and two each in <st1:State w:st="on">Missouri</st1:State>
and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Texas</st1:place></st1:State> —
that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their
drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Emporia</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">Kan.</st1:State></st1:place>,
refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Rural consumers who draw water from their
own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Stroud</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Water</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Research</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType>, in <st1:City w:st="on">Avondale</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">Pa.</st1:State>, has measured water samples from <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:City>'s upstate
watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as
a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more
caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was
struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>He suspects it escapes from failed septic
tanks, maybe with other drugs. "Septic systems are essentially small
treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to
fail," Aufdenkampe said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Even users of bottled water and home
filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which
simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals,
according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of
home filtration systems. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Contamination is not confined to the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers,
reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected
pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region> and Europe — even in
Swiss lakes and the <st1:place w:st="on">North Sea</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>For example, in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>,
a study of 20 <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Ontario</st1:place></st1:State>
drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine
different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called
for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking
water at seven different sites. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>In the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the problem isn't
confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep
underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal
scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources
such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones,
antibiotics and other drugs. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Perhaps it's because Americans have been
taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts.
Over the past five years, the number of <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription
drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The
Nielsen <st1:place w:st="on">Co.</st1:place> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"People think that if they take a
medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not
the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw
attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Some drugs, including widely used
cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist
modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says
there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove
pharmaceuticals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>One technology, reverse osmosis, removes
virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale
use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made
drinkable. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Another issue: There's evidence that adding
chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants,
makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Human waste isn't the only source of
contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow
release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which
causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is
metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right
through the animals. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Water sampled downstream of a <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nebraska</st1:place></st1:State> feedlot had
steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead
minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small
heads. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Other veterinary drugs also play a role.
Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies,
dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The
inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2
billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the
Animal Health Institute. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the
contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no.
"Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk
from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said
microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby
— director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. —
said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in
the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small
concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to
aquatic organisms." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Recent laboratory research has found that
small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human
blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too
quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed
biological activity associated with inflammation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are
damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows.
Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process
usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel
species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the
wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Some scientists stress that the research is
extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the
documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"It brings a question to people's minds
that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for
humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could
be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or
something. We haven't gotten far enough along." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>With limited research funds, said Shane
Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water
Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in
water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"I think it's a shame that so much
money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and
so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to
just accept that these things are everywhere — every chemical and pharmaceutical
could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a
statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>To the degree that the EPA is focused on the
issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just
late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and
quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater. "We realize that we have a
limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going
to be able to learn a lot more." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>While Grumbles said the EPA had analyzed 287
pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for
regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said only one, nitroglycerin,
was on the list. Nitroglycerin can be used as a drug for heart problems, but
the key reason it's being considered is its widespread use in making
explosives. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>So much is unknown. Many independent
scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be
harmful to humans. Confidence about human safety is based largely on studies
that poison lab animals with much higher amounts. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>There's growing concern in the scientific
community, meanwhile, that certain drugs — or combinations of drugs — may harm
humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in
sizable amounts every day. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big
one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a
half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant
women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>Many concerns about chronic low-level
exposure focus on certain drug classes: chemotherapy that can act as a powerful
poison; hormones that can hamper reproduction or development; medicines for
depression and epilepsy that can damage the brain or change behavior;
antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms;
pain relievers and blood-pressure diuretics. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>For several decades, federal environmental
officials and nonprofit watchdog environmental groups have focused on regulated
contaminants — pesticides, lead, PCBs — which are present in higher
concentrations and clearly pose a health risk. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>However, some experts say medications may
pose a unique danger because, unlike most pollutants, they were crafted to act
on the human body. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"These are chemicals that are designed
to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what
pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a
shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Brunel</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City>, who
has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>And while drugs are tested to be safe for
humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime.
Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at
normal medical doses. That's why — aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride
injected into potable water supplies — pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people
who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>"We know we are being exposed to other
people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says
Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment
of the State University of New York at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Albany</st1:place></st1:City>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>____ <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#003399" face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana;color:#003399'>The AP National Investigative Team can be
reached at investigate (at) ap.org<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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