Pharmreturns.net

(Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products)
As of 2004, the occurrence of PPCPs in drinking water is a major aspect that concerns the public.
The occurrence of PPCPs in drinking water, particularly with respect to risk communication and risk perception, has major ramifications with regard to water reuse and recycling.
The scientists involved with PPCP research [PDF, 11 pp., 176 KB] span many disciplines, ranging from hydrology to toxicology. The published literature on PPCPs continues to grow and to cover a wider range of issues; the number of publications has grown from a dozen or fewer annual y as of 1997 to more than 100 per year as of 2001. A wide array of web-accessible materials augments this published literature. A variety of grants have been awarded to various institutions by the EPA, USGS, AwwaRF, and others. Some of the research and thinking performed by EPA’s ORD/NERL on various aspects of PPCPs has been published in a variety of journals and books. The media continues to cover advancements regarding PPCPs as environmental pol utants.
DEA Licensed, Endorsed & Referred http://www.epa.gov/
EPA Licensed for HazMat/Regulated Waste These, and other stories regarding pending
Ann Arbor News
National Post
legislation, are available at the EPA website.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/ http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?id Discover, (Special Issue, January 2003)
“Study to trace new chemicals in city water: Ann Arbor gets grant to detect ‘personal care’ “A Beaverton pharmacist is being investigated by the “The city of Ann Arbor was awarded a $26,000 grant to Ontario Ministry of the Environment for al egedly dump- study how medicines, hormones and other substances ing “a witch’s brew” of drugs down the toilet. The dump- The topic of “drugs as water pollutants”
are getting into the city’s water cycle.” ing could threaten the town’s water supply and the water is highlighted as one of the top
quality of Lake Simcoe, a source of drinking water for at science stories of 2002
EPA Press Release
“Pol uted water is nothing new in the United States. We http://www.epa.gov/NE/pr/2004/apr/040407.html have lived through flaming rivers and caustic creeks that Nature
could take the hide off a hound. For decades, however, Environmental Laws at New England Hospitals” http://www.nature.com/cgitaf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/ efforts to safeguard drinking water were hampered be- “The problem of pharmaceutical waste has just begun to journal/v424/n6944/ful / 424005a_fs.html cause no one had an accurate sense of the ful range of hit the radar screen at most hospitals,” noted Varney. “Studies assess risks of drugs in water cycle” contaminants in the water supply, nor of the geographic “We are glad to see these hospital leaders creating an in- extent of the pol ution. This year two separate research novative model for this waste stream that can be used Environmental Health Perspectives
teams unveiled sophisticated new tools to find out ex- by other hospitals and that wil reduce the damage to our http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/111-5/ss.html actly what chemical dangers are lurking in freshwater environment caused by these medical wastes. We ex- “Preventing Pill Pollution: Keeping Drugs and pect hospital officials throughout New England to make environmental issues a priority, right up there with good Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.phil y.com/mld/phil y/living/health/ Know Your Environment
http://www.acnatsci.org/research/kye/kye22003.html#h4 MaineToday.com
“The Clean Water Act: Thirty Years Later.
http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D80PH2KG1-48.shtml “Scientists are finding traces of drugs, herbicides and Part 3 - Selected Topics For The Future” fragrances - even birth-control hormones and weed kill- http://www.acnatsci.org/research/kye/kye22003.html ers - in the nation’s drinking water. Where once experts proper disposal of prescription drugs” “Another set of emerging water quality issues, (about thought the water-filtration process would eliminate the “Maine could become the first state to launch a program which considerably less is known) are the environmental chemicals, new studies, including surveys in Philadelphia that uses prepaid mailers to promote the proper disposal effects caused by the release of minute quantities of and New Jersey, have discovered otherwise. One water of expired or unused prescription drugs.” pharmaceuticals into the environment. Although this industry investigation into 18 drinking-water plants na- problem is not specifical y covered in the CWA (indeed, it tionwide found the compounds in 14 of them.” Poughkeepsie Journal
was virtual y unknown until a few years ago), it involves http://www.mindful y.org/Water/2004/Chemicals-Water- many of the same factors as conventional pol ution, and Chemical & Engineering News
may ultimately fal under the purview of the Act.” http://pubs.acs.org/isubscribe/journals/cen/82/i40/html/ “Eat, Drink and Be Wary: Chemicals often Daily Environment Report,
Bureau of National Affairs, Washington D.C.
Southwest Hydrology
Bangor Daily News
http://www.swhydro.arizona.edu/index.html “New Data on Levels of Drugs, Chemicals In Water to Be Released at March Meeting” “On Tuesday, the last day of the conference, the agenda KLAS-TV
Orlando Sentinel
was expected to be devoted to state and federal efforts http://www.klastv.com/Global/story.asp?S= http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/growth/ to regulate the disposal of unused medications in order to protect the environment as wel as to keep prescrip- “Dumping Drugs Could Pose Health Threat” tion medications away from substance abusers.”[Note: this excerpt refers to a conference that discussed Conscious Choice
the State of Maine’s “Act To Encourage the Proper
http://www.consciouschoice.com/issues/cc1609/ Disposal of Expired Pharmaceuticals”:
Mini-Monograph: The Green Pharmacy —
actions, opportunities, future issues.
BBC News
The Alchemist
http://www.epa.gov/esd/chemistry/ppcp/images/pdf/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3545684.stm “Prozac ‘found in drinking water’”

Source: http://www.pharmreturns.net/Downloads/EPA-Articles.pdf