WASHINGTON, DC, December 9, 2008 (ENS) – Low levels of manufactured chemicals remain in public water supplies even after they have been treated in selected community water facilities across the country, according to new research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and released today.

Water from nine selected rivers used as sources for public water systems was analyzed for the study. The populations in communities served by these water treatment plants vary from 3,000 to over a million.

Testing sites include the White River in Indiana; Elm Fork Trinity River in Texas; Potomac River in Maryland; Neuse River in North Carolina; Chattahoochee River in Georgia; Running Gutter Brook in Massachusetts; Clackamas River in Oregon; Truckee River in Nevada; and Cache La Poudre in Colorado.

Scientists tested water samples for about 260 commonly used chemicals, including pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal care and household products, disinfection by-products, and manufacturing additives.

The Harry Nice Bridge crosses the Potomac River
at Morgantown, Maryland. (Photo by Geoff Greene)

Low levels of about 130 of the chemicals were detected in streams and rivers before treatment in the source water at the public water facilities. Nearly two-thirds of those chemicals were also detected after treatment.

The most commonly detected chemicals in the source water were herbicides, disinfection by-products, and fragrances. Most of the chemicals found were at levels equivalent to one thimble of water in an Olympic-sized pool.

“Low level detection does not necessarily indicate a concern to human health, but rather indicates what types of chemicals we can expect to find in different areas of the country,” said USGS lead scientist, Gregory Delzer.

“Recent scientific advances have given USGS scientists the analytical tools to detect a variety of contaminants in the environment at low concentrations; often 100 to 1,000 times lower than drinking-water standards and other human-health benchmarks,” he explained.

Delzer said that chemicals included in this study serve as indicators of the possible presence of a larger number of commonly used chemicals in rivers, streams, and drinking water.

Many of these chemicals are among those often found in ambient waters of 186 rivers and streams sampled by USGS since the early 1990s, and are correlated with the presence of upstream wastewater sources or upstream agricultural and urban land use.

About 120 chemicals were not detected at all.

Measured concentrations of chemicals detected in both source water and treated water were generally less than 0.1 part per billion.

More than 75 percent of source water and treated water samples in this study contained five or more chemicals.

“The common occurrence of chemical mixtures means that the total combined toxicity may be greater than that of any single contaminant present,” the USGS said in a statement accompanying the report.

The USGS report identifies the need for continued research because the additive or synergistic effects on human health of mixtures of man-made chemicals at low levels are not well understood.

“Most of the man-made chemicals assessed in the USGS study are unregulated in drinking water and not required to be monitored or removed,” says Tom Jacobus, general manager of the Washington Aqueduct, which provides drinking water for one million people in the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Virginia, and the City of Falls Church, Virginia,

“These findings are not surprising and they will be important in helping regulators and assisting water utility managers arrive at decisions about future water treatment processes,” Jacobus said.

This study did not look at pharmaceuticals or hormones nor did it examine the implications of the findings to ecosystems or aquatic health.

Although potential human-health effects and risk were not assessed in this study, the USGS said that adverse effects to human health are expected to be “negligible” based on comparisons of measured concentrations and available human-health benchmarks.

Click here for the full source-water quality assessment and listing of chemicals.

The USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program is planning to complete as many as 21 additional surface-water assessments through 2013. A companion study is scheduled for release in 2009 that summarizes the occurrence of the same chemicals in high-production wells and the associated treated water in 13 states.

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CHICAGO, Illinois, November 11, 2008 (ENS) – To keep expired and unused prescription drugs out of the Chicago water supply, city, state and federal governments are cooperating to provide a new permanent, convenient way for people to discard them without flushing them down the drain.

Drop boxes are now located at five Chicago Police Department Area Centers. From there, the pharmaceuticals will be packaged and sent to a state-authorized incinerator for destruction. The collection of the pharmaceuticals is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the disposal is funded by Illinois EPA.

“Many people may not be aware that improperly disposing of prescription or over-the-counter drugs, such as flushing them down the toilet, contributes to pharmaceuticals found in our waterways,” said Mayor Richard Daley, announcing the new drop boxes on November 1.

Unwanted medications can contaminate drinking
water. (Photo courtesy NOAA)

“Residents who have expired and unused pharmaceuticals are encouraged to use these drop boxes at police headquarters, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said.

The mayor says Chicago’s drinking water is safe and meets or exceeds all standards of safety as established by the U.S. EPA and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

A water sampling project conducted in March by the Bureau of Water, Illinois EPA identified 16 pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the untreated or drinking water of five public water supplies in Illinois, including Chicago.

The chemicals range from caffeine, nicotine, aspirin and the insect repellent DEET to prescription drugs such as the antibiotic penicillin, the anti-convulsant Dilantin and the thyroid hormone replacement Levothyroxine.

But a comparison of the sampling results with conservative screening levels developed by the Illinois EPA and the Illinois Department of Public Health showed the levels found in water supplies “do not present a public health hazard at this time,” the report states.

Still, the majority of trace pharmaceuticals found in the city’s waterways are the result of human and livestock excretion.

Improperly disposing of prescription or over-the-counter drugs can contribute to pharmaceuticals found in the city’s water. Proper management and disposal has been found to lessen the impact of prescription drugs on the water system.

This year the city has been able to keep just over one ton of prescription drugs out of the waste stream as a result of four neighborhood drop-off events in addition to the permanent drop-off site at the Household Chemicals and Computer Recycling Facility located at Goose Island.

“While research is continuing the impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on people and aquatic life, we know that we need to take action now to prevent them from getting into our waterways and lakes, and into our drinking water,” said Illinois EPA Director Doug Scott.

Expired and unused pharmaceuticals can be disposed of in drop boxes at the five Chicago Police Department Area Centers. By using the police facilities as a drop-off location, the controlled substances will be deposited safely and kept under observation by law enforcement until they are destroyed, the mayor said. The centers are located at:

* Area 1 – 5101 S. Wentworth Ave.
* Area 2 – 727 E. 111th St.
* Area 3 – 2452 W. Belmont Ave.
* Area 4 – 3151 W. Harrison St.
* Area 5 – 5555 W. Grand Ave.

After the pharmaceuticals are put in the drop box, they will be removed and taken to the Goose Island facility for packaging, then transported by the Illinois EPA to a disposal facility for incineration.

The disposal facility is permitted to handle these materials and contains state-of-the-art technology for controlling the air emissions generated from the incineration.

“Properly disposing of unwanted medicines helps protect our Great Lakes by keeping these contaminants out of waterways such as Lake Michigan,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lynn Buhl. “EPA was pleased to fund this safe and convenient way for the public to get rid of their old and unwanted meds.”

“Chemicals from medicines flushed down the toilet can pass untreated through sewage plants, damage septic systems, and contaminate nearby waterways,” said Beth Hinchey Malloy, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Great Lakes ecosystem specialist. “Medicines thrown in the trash can be scavenged or they have the potential to contaminate landfill leachate.”

“Some pharmacies will take back some unwanted medications, and some communities have one-day collection events, but there is no long-term solution to this growing and potentially dangerous wastestream,” said Susan Boehme, IISG coastal sediment specialist. “We field calls every week from community leaders, state officials, pharmacists, doctors, solid waste managers or environmental activists looking for information, support, and solutions.”

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