April 20, 2009
271M Lbs Of Pharmaceuticals In Our Water
AP Investigation: Drugmakers, Other Manufacturers Legally Releasing Chemicals Into Waterways
-
(CBS/AP)
-
Interactive Eye On The Environment Find out how global warming, air pollution and alternative forms of energy impact our world.
-
Only On The Web Your Health In Focus CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook hosts a weekly show, CBS Doc Dot Com, all about health issues.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them - as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.
"It doesn't pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they're creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.
Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts.
Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.
Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don't absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs
Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
More From Health
Add a Comment See all 30 Comments
- Even doctors tell you to flush your expired medicine.
Posted by observer2020 at 10:50 AM : Apr 20, 2009
Where I live, we are told NEVER to flush medicine down the toilet. We are told to take it to the pharmacies so they can dispose of them. - Reply to this comment
- I don't know what other people will do, But I intend to pursue filtering my drinking and cooking water. I probably can't be sure to filter all these contaminants, but doing something is better than doing nothing.
A little peace of mind is better than great doubt.
Posted by grumpygeezer at 5:22 AM : Apr 20, 2009
Our water is constantly being tested and is supposedly alright to drink, but I still won't drink it because I don't feel like ingesting chlorine and all the other chemicals that are in it. I have a separate water tap that is filtered. - Reply to this comment
- The pharmaceuticals and chemicals that are used to create the pharmaceuticals have a number of reasons for being in our water. Some chemical contents are the result of residues on the production vessels, others are the result of intermediate processing steps, and still others are certainly the result of disposal. The rules governing chemical waste and disposal will continually evolve as technology changes and as the public sentiment changes. From a scientific perspective, the "cocktail" mixes of chemicals can play highly influential roles in human and animal healths. Health responses to environmental changes can be extremely nonlinear, so the most appropriate approach is to put GREAT effort in minimizing chemical dumping into the environment. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries should not self-regulate, as time and again we can find examples where a business looks out for its own immediate interests, even at the expenses of the public. The article has insufficient information to make many critical-thinking conclusions. But clearly, 271 million pounds is a big deal, especially when you know the science and can reasonbly assume that the concentration of these pharmaceuticals are very nonuniformly distributed. The concentrations, in PPM, PPB, PPT, are also scientifically important. It is completely incorrect to say our uncontrolled, unrepeatable "cocktail" exposure to these chemicals makes us healthier. You don't have to look very hard to find case after case where chemical cocktails caused health problems for humanity, domesticated animals, and wildlife. Prevention of chemical pollutants in the environment is the key; regulatory changes to chemical and pharmaceutical production and disposal are needed.
Dr. Steve Deibele
Kiel, WI - Reply to this comment
- you better trot on over to Fox for the REAL news.
Posted by jimsmename at 10:58 AM : Apr 20, 2009
I've never seen their site.
What's the address? - Reply to this comment
- Even doctors tell you to flush your expired medicine.
Posted by observer2020 at 10:50 AM : Apr 20, 2009
If you've ever seen the "meds room" at a nursing home, they actually have a toilet installed up high at countertop level for disposing of expired meds - and the meds of residents who have "expired."
They are REQUIRED BY LAW to flush excess meds. - Reply to this comment
- Amazing what is flushed nowadays. Even doctors tell you to flush your expired medicine. Remember people....we ALL live downstream. They need to devise a "safe" way of disposing of our chemicals, medicines, etc., before we all turn into one-eyed, six-legged mutants.
- Reply to this comment
- The article mentions the weight of the drugs, however no mentioning of the weight of the water in the US. Unless such information is available, how is someone able to calculate the ppm
Posted by jwesel1 at 7:02 AM : Apr 20, 2009
271 MILLION pounds of Drugs were released into waterways used for drinking water and you want to split hairs? No thanks!
Posted by skyk-2009 at 8:33 AM : Apr 20, 2009
Yah! How dare you confuse Sky King with facts!!!!
Don't you know? Liberals are ALLERGIC to facts!!!
How are is the liberal media going to create another hysterical scare story if you get bogged down with FACTS????/
LOL!!! - Reply to this comment
- Hey thats why I flush twice because I know Berkley is somewhere down stream.
- Reply to this comment
- Drugs in the water, hormones and antibiotics in our meat, caffeine/guarana/ephedra in our drinks, pollution in our air....it's a miracle we're not all pychos with large breasts, lungs, and gonads, who have full immunity from everything!!!
- Reply to this comment
- My god there sure are a lot of STUPID folks questioning a story they should be worried about! One idiot actually posted that Europeans are healthier because they have pharmaceuticals in their water .... ROFLMAO! And another trying to figure out PPM based on weight when it is actually figured on total mass (volume x density) ! The story had nothing to do with PPM rather total pounds dumped! Dumb as dirt!
- Reply to this comment
- This is the one of the most unscientifically written articles. The article mentions the weight of the drugs, however no mentioning of the weight of the water in the US. Unless such information is available, how is someone able to calculate the ppm (parts per million) of drugs in the water to make an intelligent guess. If the concentration of drugs is less than .5 ppm, it poses no hazard.
Posted by jwesel1 at 7:02 AM : Apr 20, 2009
271 MILLION pounds of Drugs were released into waterways used for drinking water and you want to split hairs? No thanks! - Reply to this comment
- To save some people time, the answer is NO, I do not work for a pharmaceutical company. That said, I had a few thoughts after reading this. First, this dumping is not new...it's been going on for decades. Newer drugs may be added, some older ones stopped, but drugs of some sort have been getting into the water supply since pharmaceutical manufacturing began. The only thing new is the tests that are sensitive enough to detect the miniscule amounts being found. I'm sure that in high enough concentrations these drug combinations would be deadly, but we're not talking about high concentrations; we're talking about trace amounts so small that they couldn't be detected at all until recently. For perspective, in the last available study I could find, Americans withdrew 341 billion gallons of water per day from fresh water supplies. To put it another way, over 2.8 trillion pounds of water. Each day. Figure out the total fresh water yourself, as I'm tired of counting zeros.
Second, so what if there are drugs in the water. It saves money on prescriptions and that'll REALLY torque off the pharmaceutical companies!! The main reason Europeans are generally healthier than Americans must be because they're pharmaceutical waste is more concentrated in their drinking water supplies. - Reply to this comment
- This same report was done from a scientific perspective. Not the blatant anti-pharmaceutical, CBS perspective. PEOPLE are the ones dumping the drugs into the system. People who purchase the drugs flush them down the toilet when they no longer need them or they expire. Pharmaceutical companies do not dump drugs. That is a idiotic conclusion. That would be like dumping gold down the toilet.
- Reply to this comment
- One of the biggest misconceptions about drug warnings: "Avoid driving until you know how this medication will affect you." Hello, if the drug will make you feel weird, chances are you can get a DUI on it regardless if you're used to it's effect on you.
- Reply to this comment
- " the fact that this happens is one of the most insane news items i've ever read. how is ANY releasing of industrial compounds into rivers, lakes and ocean legal?
Posted by SugarMtn "
Stop applying common sense and it becomes clear. The companies that are releasing these chemicals own the government. They make the rules because they have the money. That is all there is to it. Notice how companies have not been held to account for their pollution from the beginnings of our industrial revolution. - Reply to this comment
- the fact that this happens is one of the most insane news items i've ever read. how is ANY releasing of industrial compounds into rivers, lakes and ocean legal?
- Reply to this comment
- This is the one of the most unscientifically written articles. The article mentions the weight of the drugs, however no mentioning of the weight of the water in the US. Unless such information is available, how is someone able to calculate the ppm (parts per million) of drugs in the water to make an intelligent guess. If the concentration of drugs is less than .5 ppm, it poses no hazard.
- Reply to this comment
- Another great example of how American style capitalism hurts Americans. With the huge profits the pharmaceutical companies pull down you would think they would be good corporate citizens and not pollute America's waterways with their medicines. But that would decrease their bonuses. That they are making society sicker and causing untold harm to the people that drink this contaminated water does not concern them. What are these medicines in the water doing to our health?
Who wants to bet that the clean-up for this will once again become the burden of the American tax payer? That is why our economic model is losing favor throughout the world ... there seems to do so little good it does for society; while reaping unearning wealth for so few. - Reply to this comment
- It is cheaper to solve pollution problems at the source, where they are concentrated. Corporations plead high costs, but by releasing their toxins into the environment, they become nearly impossible to deal with, and pass the costs to the general population in illnes and genetic damage. There is no excuse for this and ther is certainly no excse for politicians who are dumb enough to buy the corporate arguments. Sometimes, as with lithium, there might even be money in recycling the materials. Besides psychiatric medicine, lithium is used in the batteries we hope will powere electric and hybrid cars.
- Reply to this comment
- When a people mindlessly use their rivers for their sewers, what do you expect?
- Reply to this comment
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
