Pharmaceutical Waste: An 'Emerging Issue' In State
By David Funkhouser
Courant Staff Writer
September 18, 2008
You might not have a prescription for steroids, blood thinners or antidepressants in your medicine cabinet, but you might be taking them anyway — in your drinking water.
Growing concern about low levels of drugs and other chemicals showing up in water supplies has stirred the federal government to action, inspired proposals for new laws and prompted local groups to organize disposal days for medical waste.
"There's not one water treatment facility in the state of Connecticut that can screen out the pharmaceuticals that are either flushed down the sink or down the toilet," said Greg McKenna, president of PharmASC-e, a pharmaceutical waste management consultant in Farmington.
"That means we're drinking them."
State health authorities and water company officials dispute that contention. They say drinking water here is better protected than in most states because Connecticut prohibits discharges from wastewater treatment plants within public water supply watersheds.
"This means that Connecticut's public water supplies are at very little risk of exposure to pharmaceuticals that have been flushed through sewers into the wastewater stream," according to a statement from the Connecticut Water Works Association.
Still, nobody knows exactly what's in the water because federal and state agencies don't have standards or require the testing of public water supplies for pharmaceutical agents. Water treatment systems and most septic and sewage treatment systems are not equipped to remove the thousands of different pharmaceutical compounds in use.
"It's safe to say this is an important emerging issue," said Darrell Smith, acting chief of the state Department of Public Health's drinking water division. Readily available testing methods don't exist yet for these compounds, he said, and research needs to be done into their potential impact on human health.
"My sense is that the industry, academia and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are beginning now to focus on those questions," Smith said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is trying to educate hospitals, pharmacists and others in how to properly dispose of medicines, said Bob Kaliszewski, the agency's director of planning and program development.
"We are advising people not to flush them," he said.
Environmental officials say the best way to safely get rid of medicine is to carefully dispose of it in the trash, which, in Connecticut, will likely end up in an incinerator. Local agencies have also begun to sponsor collection days to help consumers properly dispose of unwanted medications. One will be held Saturday at the Connecticut Water Co. offices in Clinton.
Mary B. Ingarra, Connecticut Water's manager of public affairs, said the company tested in April for 67 different compounds and found no pharmaceuticals in the water. She said the company has tried to get the word out to its customers about proper disposal.
In an investigative report published this week, The Associated Press said it found that millions of pounds of drugs are being dumped into the nation's waste stream from hospitals, veterinary clinics and other medical facilities. The report noted that most pharmaceutical waste is unmetabolized medicine that is flushed into sewers and waterways through human excretion. The story follows an earlier AP report on the potential impact of low concentrations of medicines that are showing up in water supplies across the nation.
The EPA plans to survey medical facilities across the country next spring to see how they are handling surplus or expired medications. The survey will include hospitals, hospices, long-term care facilities and veterinary hospitals.
Hospitals have become more aware of the issue in recent years, said Jim Baio, director of environmental services for Hartford Hospital.
"It was a ubiquitous practice for most institutions to wash pharmaceuticals down the drains," Baio said. "Nobody paid attention to it much."
But Baio said Hartford Hospital began addressing the problem two years ago, training staff and arranging to send unused or expired drugs to disposal facilities off site to be incinerated.
Drugs can get into the environment in several ways.
Residue from prescription and over-the-counter medications pass from an individual's body and into sewer lines to treatment plants. Cosmetics and personal care products used externally can wash off during bathing. And unused or expired medicines might be flushed down the drain.
Concern about pharmaceuticals in the water is based on the possible effects of long-term exposure to very low levels of those substances. Research has found impacts on fish and other aquatic species, particularly from endocrine disrupters, chemicals that can mimic the activities of hormones.
Researchers have yet to answer the question of what effect the chemicals have on humans. The state Department of Public Healthcontends that adverse health effects on humans are "highly unlikely."
The DEP's Kaliszewski said he could not say what the impact of endocrine disrupters and other compounds found in the environment might be, "but we're going on the assumption that they have some impact, and they don't belong there."
Contact David Funkhouser at dfunkhouser@courant.com.
Connecticut Water Co., in cooperation with CVS/pharmacy and the state Department of Consumer Protection, is hosting a collection of unwanted medication at its Clinton office at 93 W. Main St. (Route 1), on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free and open to customers and residents of the company's 54 service towns, as well as residents in those towns where the company's watersheds and water supplies are located. For details, go to: http://www.ctwater.com.
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