Studying of Pharmaceuticals in Waterways

Studying of Pharmaceuticals in Waterways



August, 2008 - The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency is preparing to conduct a detailed study of the disposal methods

used by hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospices and veterinary

hospitals that wish to discard unused pharmaceuticals.

The EPA is seeking more information on the practices of the health care

industry to inform future potential regulatory actions, and identify best

management and proper disposal practices.

EPA has assumed that one facility in seven, approximately 3,500

facilities, would be selected to receive the detailed questionnaire.

To gather this information, the agency has drafted an Information

Collection Request and is now seeking public input on the request form.

Public comments on the Health Care Industry ICR will be taken for 90 days

after it is published in the Federal Register, which should occur shortly.




Drugs taken for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy,

mental illness and heart problems contaminate U.S. waterways, according to

a March 2008 report by the Associated Press National Investigation Team.

The findings confirm a 2002 report by the U.S. Geological Survey that was

the first nationwide study of pharmaceutical pollution in the nation's

rivers and streams.

The questionnaire is one of several actions the agency is taking to

strengthen its understanding of disposal practices and potential risks

from pharmaceuticals in water.

The agency also is commissioning the National Academy of Sciences to

provide scientific advice on the potential risk to human health from low

levels of pharmaceutical residues in drinking water.

The Academy will convene a workshop of scientific experts December 11-12,

to advise the agency on methods for screening and prioritizing

pharmaceuticals to determine potential risk.

"The agency's work to increase industry stewardship and scientific

understanding of pharmaceuticals in water continues," said Benjamin

Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water.

"By reaching out to the National Academy of Sciences and requesting

information from the health care industry, EPA is taking important steps

to enhance its efforts," he said.

The EPA is also expanding a recent fish tissue pilot study to include

samples from across the country to determine whether residues from

pharmaceuticals and personal care products may be present in waterways and

the fish that inhabit them.

Grumbles says the agency is developing a methodology to establish water

quality criteria to protect aquatic life and is conducting studies to

examine the potential occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care

products in sewage sludge and wastewater.

The agency has developed analytical methods capable of detecting

pharmaceuticals, steroids and hormones at very low levels, he says.

The EPA also is participating in an international effort with the World

Health Organization to study appropriate risk assessment methods for

pharmaceuticals as environmental contaminants.

All these actions reflect advice the agency sought and received from a

broad range of stakeholders including environmental and public health

groups, drinking water and wastewater utilities, state water and public

health agencies, and the agricultural community.

Grumbles says that the EPA's approach to learning about pharmaceuticals

and personal care products in water is aimed at strengthening scientific

knowledge, improving public understanding, building partnerships for

stewardship, and taking regulatory action when appropriate.





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