Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 10, 2008
4. Water Quality -
Report doubtful on safety of water
Pharmaceuticals in what we drink could have long-term consequences – AP
Inland water managers set to monitor for pharmaceuticals – Inland Valley Press Enterprise
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Report doubtful on safety of water
Pharmaceuticals in what we drink could have long-term consequences
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
Associated Press – 3/10/08
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.
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.
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.
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
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, thehead of a group representing major
Water infiltration
How do the drugs get into the water?
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.
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.
"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.
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.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
-Officials in
-Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in
-Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in
-A sex hormone was detected in
-The drinking water for
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
Testing regulations
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:
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
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.
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 and New York City.
The
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "
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.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in
Rural consumers who draw water from wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
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.
Other tainted sources
Contamination is not confined to the
In the
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
"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
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.
Veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for a wide range of ailments— 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.
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.
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."
Side effects
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.
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 earthworms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
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.
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."
So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. There's growing concern in the scientific community, though, 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.
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.
"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,
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_8519245
Inland water managers set to monitor for pharmaceuticals
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Inland water agencies plan to develop a task force and program to monitor pharmaceuticals in local water supplies where federal scientists have already found trace amounts of caffeine, pain relievers and other pharmaceuticals.
An awareness of drugs in drinking-water supplies is so new that Inland agencies will look first to a study just getting under way by the Metropolitan Water District. Officials at the district, which serves 18 million
"It's of interest and concern to the water industry so Metropolitan said rather than sit and wait around, let's see what we can learn about it," said Mic Stewart, Metropolitan's water quality manager, of a monitoring program. "This is the most preliminary step you can take."
An investigation by The Associated Press found traces of pharmaceuticals in the watersheds and treated drinking-water supplies in two dozen metropolitan areas across the country, including
Stewart said the issue is emerging now because some labs are just now able to measure the pharmaceuticals at such low levels. But, he said, many questions remain.Scientists are studying the issue, and it is not yet clear what, if any, negative effects the pharmaceuticals have on people."There's no definitive data that allows anyone to draw conclusions on human health effects," Berchtold said.
Wells Tested
Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey briefed Inland water officials in October of their ongoing study of the
The samples were tested directly from wells before the water was treated and piped to the public. It is not clear how the pharmaceuticals were introduced to the wells.
Inland reservoirs owned by Metropolitan most likely to be tested include
Most water treatment plants are unable to remove pharmaceuticals people may discard down the toilet or are found in human waste. Personal care products are rinsed off bodies in the shower and end up in the wastewater as well.
While much of the Inland area's treated wastewater flows into the
Berchtold said that as part of a settlement over a sewage spill, the city of
Create a List
Meanwhile, Inland water and wastewater agencies will meet April 15 at the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority's headquarters in
Norton said there are hundreds of pharmaceuticals and that a list will be generated after 2009 so Inland agencies will know which ones to monitor on a regular basis.
The working group is in response to a request by the regional board, which is seeking to protect the quality of local supplies as more imported supplies are stored in aquifers, Norton said.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_inlandwater10.3f3d633.html
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