The Silent Spring of the 21st Century? Pharmaceuticals in Our Water
» In the 1960s, Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking pronouncement that the pesticide DDT was entering the food chain — thereby threatening the health and well-being of entire species — was a wake-up call to both elected officials and the American public. Carson scientifically linked cancers and genetic mutations to years of rampant, unregulated chemical use on our crops and in our environment. Chemical companies launched massive disinformation campaigns against Carson, fomenting fears of increased disease, and insect and vermin infestation. A President’s Science Advisory Committee was formed under the leadership of President John F. Kennedy to examine Carson’s findings — and ultimately affirmed her conclusions. The U.S. government eventually banned DDT.
Over the last several decades, a new silent spring has popped onto the global landscape: Copious amounts of pharmaceuticals (controlled and uncontrolled substances) have become standard for people residing in rich and developing nations. New medicines have rapidly entered the marketplace to increase fertility, change women’s and men’s hormone levels, cure heart disease, stop a raging migraine, increase growth, immunize against potential diseases, and provide a quality of life to people suffering from mental illness. And while technology has improved the lives of so many, there is an environmental and human health price to our pharmaceutically charged citizenry.
Untreated pharmaceutical waste is entering our drinking water supply and our waterways through a variety of sources including wastewater treatment plants, livestock farms and landfills. Humans excrete up to 90 percent of pharmaceuticals ingested and also add to the problem by dumping unused or expired meds down the toilet. Untreated effluent (raw sewage) is a major problem in metropolitan cities such as New York City and has been identified as a contributing factor to the vast increase in endocrine-disrupters entering our environment.
For nearly a decade, alarming reports of “feminized” and “masculinized” (males with female reproductive characteristics and females with male reproductive characteristics) fish, reptiles, birds and mammals have splashed across newspaper headlines around the world including the Thames in London, Jamaica Bay in New York, the Columbia River in Washington State, five out of seven northern European countries’ freshwater bodies, and the Great Lakes habitats of Canada. In addition to this “gender-bender” syndrome, there has been a reduction in hormone levels, gamete production and fertilization capabilities. In India, Nepal and Pakistan, the Asian Vulture has crashed 99 percent since the 1980s due to a pain reliever used in livestock and by humans. Many scientists warn that these documented cases in the animal world are the “canary in the coal miner’s cage” for human impacts.
While the data continues to pour in, the U.S. government has been asleep at the wheel. Two years ago, a working group on pharmaceuticals in the environment was convened through the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The December 2007 deadline to issue a report on its findings came and went. Under a cloak of secrecy and classified documents, the panel has yet to release its findings to the public.
It took the work of Associated Press (AP) investigative reporters to uncover what the Bush Administration has yet to address. A five-month long study conducted by the AP was presented to the world in March 2008. The results were startling. Pharmaceuticals turned up in drinking water supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas, including New York City, a city that prides itself on its pristine, unfiltered water from three protected watersheds in the Catskills and Westchester County. The AP’s study prompted the U.S. Congress to hold hearings on the presence of drugs in the drinking water of more than 40 million Americans.
Congressional hearings are a good, albeit late, start to a growing environmental and public health problem. The federal government needs to direct the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study that provides risk assessments for pharmaceuticals in our waters, and measures the potential human and aquatic health effects. In addition, a comprehensive national “take back” prescription drug protocol must be coordinated between federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies. State and local environmental protection agencies must also routinely test for pharmaceuticals in the public drinking water supply — and release the data to the public.
Fortunately, many local and state governments are not waiting for the Bush Administration or Congress to act. Across the country, NGOs and decision makers are developing programs to limit pharmaceuticals from entering our waterways and drinking water supply (see sidebar).
Until the country has a standard method of preventing vast quantities of drugs from entering our environment, however, there are new recommendations for consumers to dispose of drugs in a manner that is least likely to impact our water. To properly dispose of medication, keep it in its plastic container, fill it with water and cat litter or sand, place the cap on the bottle, put it into a zip lock plastic bag, then dispose of it in the trash. The other option for discarding medications is to take them to a local hazardous waste facility or hazardous waste clean up day location.
Unlike the DDT of Rachel Carson’s generation, the federal government will never ban pharmaceuticals. Nor should they. They are beneficial to the young, the old, the healthy and the ailing. Their legacy, however, is not just how much better one feels or how much longer one lives. Their legacy also lies in the potential long-term ecological changes to our food chain, our immune systems and our ability to reproduce. w
In Brief
• The drinking water of at least 41 million Americans is contaminated with painkillers, antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones.
• These contaminants are ubiquitous in the environment. They can be found in the rivers, lakes and coastal waters of any place humans live or visit.
• Exposure to these substances can cause antibiotic resistance, cancer, mutations, and neurobehavioral and reproductive problems in humans and wildlife.
• Much of this pollution comes from sewage. Wastewater treatment plants are not designed to remove medications that are excreted or dumped down drains and toilets.
