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Earth Talk
Dear EarthTalk: What happens to the chemicals in
drugs once they are out of our systems?
--
Courtney Moschetta, Huntsville, AL
Every time you swallow a pill, some of that medicine
follows a circuitous path through your body, down the toilet,
through the sewage treatment plant (where if is often
resistant to traditional treatments) and into the nearest
river or lake, where it is eventually tapped again for the
public drinking water supply.
According to Christian Daughton, chief of environmental
chemistry at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
National Environmental Research Laboratory in Las Vegas, new
technologies now allow scientists to detect extremely low
levels of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, as well as
compounds found in personal care products like shampoo and sun
screen, in water. In Kansas City alone, more than 40 percent
of stream samples analyzed recently by the U.S. Geological
Survey had detectable amounts of over-the-counter-drugs like
ibuprofen and acetaminophen, antibiotics, and prescription
medications for high blood pressure.
While the effects on human health of drug residues in water
are not yet a serious concern, new studies show that fish and
other aquatic species may be affected, says Daughton.
Antibiotics make some species more resistant to pathogens,
steroids can cause endocrine disruption that interferes with
reproductive processes, and anti-depressants make fish
tranquil and more likely to succumb to predation. Considering
the large variety of pharmaceuticals on the market today, our
water may have a witch’s brew of very small amounts of many
different kinds of drugs.
Right now there are no EPA or Food and Drug Administration
regulations in place to control levels of residual drugs in
water, but some environmental groups concerned with water
quality want to see drug disposal policies enacted, new sewage
treatment technologies developed, and source reduction efforts
on the part of pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies.
Daughton envisions a day when drug companies will take
responsibility for the life cycle of their products. Instead
of flushing your unused prescription drugs down the toilet,
you may be able to send them back to the pharmacy or return
them to the maker for proper disposal. Such programs already
exist in areas of Europe and Canada.
CONTACT: EPA National Environmental Research Laboratory,
Environmental Sciences Division,
http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/chemistry/pharma/overview.htm;
United States Geological Survey’s Toxic Substances Hydrology
Program,
http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/emc.html.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o
E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT
06881; or submit your question at:
www.emagazine.com, or e-mail us at:
earthtalk@emagazine.com.
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