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WATER QUALITY FORUM
Pharmaceuticals & Our Local Waterways
If you missed the Water Quality Forum meeting this quarter, you missed some great information from Dr. Alice Layton, a Professor of Microbiology at UT, and Al Iannacone, an environmental epidemiologist from the Knox County Health Department. Both spoke on prescription drugs and the potential impacts they can have on our water resources.
Why is the Water Quality Forum concerned about pharmaceutical products? Awareness of the presence of prescriptions in our water supply began to grow in 1999 when it was discovered that many of the drugs we routinely use are present in our environment, some in concentrations sufficient to detect with new technologies. Tennessee is currently second in the nation for prescription drug use, so this is an issue that is certainly close to home. Thirteen common pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in the some parts of the Tennessee River at parts per trillion levels or lower.
But can’t our wastewater treatment plants remove these drugs? Research is continuing in this area, but the ability to treat or remove pharmaceuticals depends on the chemical nature of the substance, its concentration and the type of wastewater treatment technology used. Most of the technology (and even new technology) is not currently designed to remove the extremely low concentrations of compounds during the water treatment process. So, in the words of Dr. Layton, "If we use it, it could be in our water." However, it should be stressed that these pharmaceuticals are present in extremely small concentrations. Debbie Ailey of KUB commented, "You would have to drink 200 gallons or more of water each day to reach the levels that might cause any toxicity as a result of the pharmaceuticals in the water." Nevertheless, the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in our water is an increasingly important issue due to potential effects on aquatic life.
Because this is a relatively new issue and research is still underway to determine what impact these substances have on our environment and health, there is currently no EPA requirement for pharmaceutical testing in our water supply. Furthermore, testing technology varies and is still undergoing development. In the meantime, people like Al Iannacone are working to educate the public on the proper disposal of their medications. The Knox County Health in conjunction with Knox County and the City of Knoxville Solid Waste Departments, among other partners, have hosted several drug collection events, as shown in the photo, that have resulted in the collection of over a thousand pounds of medication and will continue to host them. Iannacone hopes to give the public a better disposal option than throwing prescriptions away (only to end up on our landfills) or worse—flushing them down the toilet, where they can possibly end up in our waterways.
What can you do? Get educated, make sure you dispose of your medications properly, and spread the word! Interested in learning more? To learn more about pharmaceutical products and their impact on the environment, check out:
EPA’s website on pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment: http://www.epa.gov/ppcp/
2005 Overview in Environmental Health Perspectives (Env. Epi journal of NIH): http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2005/113-10/ehp0113-a00678.pdf
2008 Overview article in Chemical & Engineering News w/ links to research papers: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8608cover.html
Daughton, C.G. "Pharmaceuticals in the Environment: Overarching Issues and Overview," in Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Scientific and Regulatory Issues, Symposium Series 791; American Chemical Society: Washington, D.C., 2001, pp. 2-38 http://www.epa.gov/esd/bios/daughton/book-summary.htm
2008 EPA review of regulatory and technical issues with numerous links: http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8608cover.html
2008 Research Triangle Environmental Health Collaborative on Pharmaceuticals in Water: http://environmentalhealthcollaborative.org/summit/pharmaceuticals-in-water-summit/
To learn more about Knox County’s pharmaceutical waste collection program, check out: http://www.knoxcounty.org/health/pharmaceutical_waste.php
You can contact Dr. Layton by calling 865-974-8080 or via email alayton@utk.edu or Al Iannacone by calling 865-215-5242 or via email albert.iannacone@knoxcounty.org.
Submitted by: Laurie Stephey, CAC AmeriCorps Water Quality Team Member
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