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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'>I agree with Pete wholeheartedly. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Sue Dayton</span></font><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>North Carolina</span></font></st1:place></st1:State><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> Healthy Communities Program</span></font><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>PO</span></font></st1:place><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> <st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">BOX</st1:Street> 44</st1:address></span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Saxapahaw</span></font></st1:City><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">NC</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">27340</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>(336) 525-2003</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a href="mailto:sdayton@swcp.com">sdayton@swcp.com</a></span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=navy face="Palatino Linotype"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Palatino Linotype";color:navy'>Our lives
begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King Jr.<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></em></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
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text-align:center'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><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>Pete Pasterz<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, January 21, 2009
1:36 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Melody LaBella;
pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us; Zero Waste Forum<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Pharmwaste] RE: <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> Times Editorial
on Pharms</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1F497D;font-weight:bold'>Do
let pharmaceuticals leak from landfills<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'>Patrick Moore is
considered by many “activist groups”, including Greenpeace, to be
an industry sell-out. While I pass no judgment on this indictment, notice
the solution he proposes: He scoffs at the idea of an industry take back
program because 1] It is not necessary because the amount of drugs is
small [though this contradicts his thesis that improper </span></font><font
size=2 color="#4f81bd" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;color:#4F81BD'>disposition</span></font><font size=2 color="#1f497d"
face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'>
is indeed a problem] 2]it will be <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>costly</span></i> [to industry?] and 3] be energy inefficient
contributing to greenhouse gasses [though he does not quantify the extent of
this problem…and in other contexts he has dismissed anthropogenic global
warming]. He rather proposes landfilling the drugs [which according
to EPA will leak into groundwater, perhaps converted in form in a stew of other
chemicals] or take to “local collection programs”….where will
such programs then take this material, how will it be disposed, at what cost,
and what efficiency of transport?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'>And, of course note the industry-apologist
mantra: “</span></font><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>It's important to note
that, to date, no risk to human health from exposure to trace pharmaceutical
compounds found in drinking water has been demonstrated in the scientific
literature.” </span></font><font size=2 color="#365f91" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#365F91'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#365f91" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;color:#365F91'>No, of course they have not YET been
traced…to human health problems, but they HAVE BEEN to other
organisms. This statement has been used to defend all sorts of practices
such as smoking, asbestos mining, sludge deposition, etc. How
much other environmental damage must occur before we have irrefutable HUMAN
damage? Who is/will be funding the effort to trace them? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color="#365f91" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:Calibri;color:#365F91'>The fundamental issue is do we follow the
“precautionary principle”, or the current “proven
innocent” model. Industry responsibility systems may force the
industry to reassess the numbers of redundant drugs, whether all ailments
require a drug treatment, and the appropriate dosage so that they are
metabolized instead of being wasted…such programs do not have to be set
up to be cost or energy-inefficient.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2
color="#76923c" face=Webdings><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Webdings;
color:#76923C'>þ</span></font><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'> Pete Pasterz, NCQRP<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on"><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'>Cabarrus</span></font></st1:PlaceName><font
size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;color:#1F497D'> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></span></font></st1:place><font
size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;color:#1F497D'> Recycling and HHW<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><font
size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;color:#1F497D'>PO</span></font></st1:place><font size=2 color="#1f497d"
face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'> <st1:address
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on">BOX</st1:Street> 707</st1:address> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:
11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'>Concord</span></font></st1:City><font
size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
Calibri;color:#1F497D'>, <st1:State w:st="on">NC</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">28026</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font size=2
color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><font size=2
color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
color:#1F497D'>www.cabarruscounty.us/waste<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><i><font size=2
color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;
color:#1F497D;font-style:italic'>If you're not for ZERO Waste, how much Waste
ARE you for?<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#1f497d" face=Calibri><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><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>Melody LaBella<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, January 21, 2009
12:15 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b>
pharmwaste@lists.dep.state.fl.us<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Pharmwaste] <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> Times Editorial
on Pharms<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<h1><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>Don't flush pharmaceuticals down the drain</span></font></b><font
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></h1>
<p class=date><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>Tuesday, January 20, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=byline><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>By Patrick Moore<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=source><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Special to The Times<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>AS a lifelong environmentalist with nearly four
decades of activism under my belt since I helped found Greenpeace in 1971, I've
thought a great deal about environmental health and human safety.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>One issue that has received a lot of attention
recently is the presence of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in the
environment. Some activist groups have raised concerns this represents a threat
even though the medicines are found at extremely low levels.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>As with many other issues, in the case of
pharmaceuticals in the environment, it comes down to this: We must weigh the
significant benefits of a healthier population against potential environmental
risks across the landscape.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>The lives of millions of people around the world
have been vastly improved thanks to the prescribed use of pharmaceuticals. And
research is continuing daily for new cures, at a cost of tens of billions of
dollars annually in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>
alone.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>It is also inevitable that a small amount of
ingested pharmaceuticals will eventually show up at trace levels in wastewater,
given the human body seldom metabolizes the entire medicine, and given the
improved analytical testing technologies that have developed over time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>An even smaller portion — 10 percent
— of detectable trace elements in wastewater are the result of consumers
flushing unused prescriptions down the toilet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>The Pharmaceutical Assessment and Transport
Evaluation (PhATE) model has been developed by industry as a tool to estimate
concentrations of pharmaceutical residues in surface waters that result from
consumer pharmaceutical use. The PhATE tool is being used to track compounds in
11 representative watersheds across the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> to model concentrations into
the future.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>This science-based approach is working to
continually improve our understanding of environmental risk from
pharmaceuticals. It's important to note that, to date, no risk to human health
from exposure to trace pharmaceutical compounds found in drinking water has
been demonstrated in the scientific literature.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>But some activist organizations still push for
costly and unnecessary controls. In Washington, Oregon and Illinois, for
example, interest groups who believe that any trace amount of any compound in
wastewater must be stopped at all cost are proposing an elaborate take-back
plan.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>This is wrong for a number of reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>First, detecting minute trace pharmaceutical
compounds in wastewater does not mean you've identified a problem — or
even the risk of a problem. Obviously, we should not indiscriminately send
toxic waste into the environment, yet our detection methods have become so
sophisticated that low levels of nearly everything are going to be found nearly
everywhere. A take-back approach to eliminate such low levels will be
enormously costly, difficult to manage, and offer no added benefit to human
health or safety.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>Second, a take-back program will likely result
in increased greenhouse-gas emissions from the additional infrastructure and
transportation needs the program will require — all for a new program
that, if past take-back subscription rates are any indicator, will be used by
only a small fraction of the public.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>Earlier this year, industry joined with the
American Pharmacists Association and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
launching the SMARxT disposal program. The goal of the program is to educate
the public about not flushing or pouring unused medicines down the drain, but
instead to use the household trash disposal or local collection programs as
alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>I believe a simple education program like SMARxT
is far more likely to result in reduced amounts of pharmaceuticals going into
wastewater than the costly approaches being proposed by some activists.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>I subscribe to the old scientific maxim that the
difference between a medicine and a poison is in the dose. While in recent
years we have drastically increased — from parts per thousands to parts
per million, and currently parts per trillion — our ability to detect
human-introduced compounds in the environment, it is still important to place
things in perspective, recognizing that the poison is in the dose.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>In most cases, the best approach an individual
can take to reduce consumer-discarded pharmaceuticals from wastewater is to
ensure the substance is <em><i><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>never</span></font></i></em>
flushed, unused, down the drain.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>An adviser to government and industry, Patrick
Moore is a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace, and chair and chief
scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Vancouver</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>.</span></font></i></em><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>
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10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times
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