<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:times new roman,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/health/mussels-opioids-bn/index.html">https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/health/mussels-opioids-bn/index.html</a></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:times new roman,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:times new roman,serif;font-size:large;color:rgb(0,0,255)">
<div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--storyhighlights"><div class="el__storyhighlights_wrapper"><div class="el__storyhighlights"><h3 class="el__headline">Story highlights</h3><ul class="el__storyhighlights__list"><li class="el__storyhighlights__item el__storyhighlights--normal">Other drugs found included antibiotics, antidepressants, antidiabetics and a chemotherapy agent</li><li class="el__storyhighlights__item el__storyhighlights--normal">Much of pharmaceuticals are probably coming from wastewater plants, biologist says</li></ul></div><div class="gmail-ad gmail-ad--epic"></div></div></div><div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph"><p class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph gmail-speakable"><cite class="el-editorial-source"> (CNN)</cite>Shellfish
in the Puget Sound, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean along the northwest
coast of Washington, tested positive for the prescription opioid
oxycodone. </p></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph gmail-speakable">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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph gmail-speakable"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph gmail-speakable">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. </div><div class="gmail-ad gmail-ad--epic gmail-ad--tablet"><div></div></div><div class="gmail-ad gmail-ad--epic gmail-ad--desktop"><div><div id="gmail-ad_nat_btf_01" class="gmail-ad-ad_nat_btf_01 gmail-ad-refresh-default"></div></div></div><ul class="gmail-cn gmail-cn-list-hierarchical-xs gmail-cn--idx-5 gmail-cn-zoneAdContainer"></ul><div class="el__embedded el__embedded--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed"><div class="el__article--teaseimage"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/09/health/cdc-water-contamination-reports/index.html"><img class="gmail-media__image gmail-media__image--responsive" alt="Drinking water blamed in hundreds of illnesses, 13 deaths, CDC reports" src="https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170224161236-water-medium-plus-169.jpg"><div class="gmail-img__preloader"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-media__caption el__storyelement__title"><span class="el__storyelement__header"><a href="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 </a></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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. </div><div class="gmail-zn-body__read-all"><div class="el__embedded el__embedded--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed"><div class="el__article--teaseimage"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/25/health/meth-fish-baltimore/index.html"><img class="gmail-media__image gmail-media__image--responsive" alt="Your drain on drugs: Amphetamines seep into Baltimore's streams" src="https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160823103827-02-meth-impact-on-aquatic-life-medium-plus-169.jpg"><div class="gmail-img__preloader"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-media__caption el__storyelement__title"><span class="el__storyelement__header"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/25/health/meth-fish-baltimore/index.html">Your drain on drugs: Amphetamines seep into Baltimore's streams</a></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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."</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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."</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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. </div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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.</div><div class="el__embedded el__embedded--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed"><div class="el__article--teaseimage"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/world/plastic-pollution-science-environment-enzyme-intl/index.html"><img class="gmail-media__image gmail-media__image--responsive" alt="Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution" src="https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180417103938-01-plastic-waste-medium-plus-169.jpg"><div class="gmail-img__preloader"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-media__caption el__storyelement__title"><span class="el__storyelement__header"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/16/world/plastic-pollution-science-environment-enzyme-intl/index.html">Scientists hope new enzyme will 'eat' plastic pollution</a></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"Mussels have a simpler system than fish, and that makes them great for monitoring," Lanksbury said. <br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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. </div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">The group started mussel monitoring in winter 2013 and conducted two additional surveys in 2016 and 2018.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">During their <a href="https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01925/" target="_blank">biennial reviews</a>, the group routinely tests samples for a suite of contaminants: polychlorinated biphenyls (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls-pcbs" target="_blank">PCBs</a>); polybrominated diphenyl ethers (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/polybrominated-diphenyl-ethers-pbdes" target="_blank">PBDE</a>s), which are flame retardants; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-03/documents/pahs_factsheet_cdc_2013.pdf" target="_blank">PAH</a>s),
which are chemicals resulting from the combustion of fossils fuels;
chlorinated pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status" target="_blank">DDT</a>) compounds; and six metals: lead, copper, zinc, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.</div><div class="el__embedded el__embedded--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed"><div class="el__article--teaseimage"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/22/health/microplastics-land-and-air-pollution-intl/index.html"><img class="gmail-media__image gmail-media__image--responsive" alt="It's not just the oceans: Microplastic pollution is all around us" src="https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/180420144705-plastic-bottle-collection-medium-plus-169.jpg"><div class="gmail-img__preloader"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-media__caption el__storyelement__title"><span class="el__storyelement__header"><a href="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</a></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">Recently, Lanksbury and her colleagues had access to extra funding.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"We decided it was important for us to start looking for '<a href="https://www.epa.gov/wqc/contaminants-emerging-concern-including-pharmaceuticals-and-personal-care-products" target="_blank">contaminants of emerging concern</a>,'
" 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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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."</div><div class="el__embedded el__embedded--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed"><div class="el__article--teaseimage"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/01/health/houston-flood-water-contamination/index.html"><img class="gmail-media__image gmail-media__image--responsive" alt="Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters" src="https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170901071417-01-harvey-arkema-plant-0830-medium-plus-169.jpg"><div class="gmail-img__preloader"></div></a></div><div class="gmail-media__caption el__storyelement__title"><span class="el__storyelement__header"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/01/health/houston-flood-water-contamination/index.html">Sewage, fecal bacteria in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters</a></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">One of the samples came from the shoreline of Seattle, and the two others came from near Bremerton, she said.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"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."</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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.</div><div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--factbox el__leafmedia--standard"><div class="el__storyelement--standard"><div class="el__storyheader el__factbox--title"><br></div></div></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">"It's a nationwide problem," Lanksbury said. <br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><a href="https://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc_surfacewater.html" target="_blank">A study conducted</a>
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.</div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">Still, she is hopeful
because wastewater treatment mechanisms have improved, and improvements
continue to be made. And the public is becoming aware<strong> </strong>of the problem. <br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph"><br></div><div class="gmail-zn-body__paragraph">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."</div></div>
<br clear="all"></div><br><div>-- <br></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204);font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:9pt">Deborah L. DeBiasi<br>
<b>Email: <a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204)">Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></a><i><br>
</i></b>WEB site address: <a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204)">www.deq.virginia.gov</span></a><br>
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Water Permits <br>
State Coordinator for Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET)
Programs<br>
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents</span></p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204);font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:9pt"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204)">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</span></a></span></p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204);font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:9pt"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/DentalRule.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204)">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/DentalRule.aspx</span></a></span></p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,204);font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-size:9pt">Mail: P.O.
Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218<br>
Location: 1111 E. Main Street, Suite 1400 Richmond, VA 23219<br>
PH: 804-698-4028
FAX: 804-698-4032</span></p><font size="3" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
</font></div></div></div></div>
</div>