Pharmaceuticals Found in Nation's Streams

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Tuesday, April 02, 2002 10:56 PM

Pharmaceuticals Found in Nation's Streams

 

 

> MEDLINEplus: Pharmaceuticals Found in Nation's Streams-

> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_6570.html -

>

> Pharmaceuticals Found in Nation's Streams

> United Press International

>

> By KATRINA WOZNICKI, UPI Science News

> Wednesday, March 13, 2002

>

>

> WASHINGTON, Mar 13, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A

> sampling of the nation's streams shows these waters were full of

> pharmaceuticals, detergents, antibacterial products and even caffeine,

> according to a new study released Wednesday.

> Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey, led by hydrologist Dana

Koplin,

> sampled 139 streams in 30 states from coast to coast during 1999 and 2000.

> They were measuring the levels of 95 different organic wastewater

> contaminants or OWCs.

> Traces of the common over-the-counter painkillers acetaminophen and

> ibuprofen were found along with prescription medications for heart

problems

> and high-blood pressure, the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone

> used in birth-control pills, and hormones used in hormone replacement

> therapy.

> Water samples also revealed traces of caffeine, cotinine, a nicotine

> byproduct, cholesterol and coprostanol, a type of steroid. Insect

repellent

> such as DEET, triclosan, an active ingredient in antibacterial soaps, and

a

> detergent byproduct called 4-nonylphenol which contains properties that

can

> disrupt the endocrine or hormone system, also were found.

> Of the 95 compounds studied, researchers found 82 of them in at least one

> stream. Thirty-five percent of the streams contained 10 or more compounds

> and one stream carried a total of 38 contaminants on the scientists' list.

> Koplin said although these compounds were found at low levels that fall

> below drinking safety standards, scientists still are concerned what

routine

> exposure to even small traces of these contaminants could have in the

> long-term on these streams' ecosystems and on human health.

> " We weren't trying to make any statements about risks or health effects, "

> Koplin told United Press International.

> The study appears in the March 13 Web edition of the journal Environmental

> Science & Technology, published by the American Chemical Society.

> Most of the streams studied were located in urban and industrialized

areas,

> but contaminants also were found in less-developed streams, Koplin said,

> such as in some of the Western states and in the Ozarks. The next step is

to

> determine which is the most dominant way these contaminants are getting

into

> the water, Koplin said.

> " When you look at your medicine cabinets ... when you have expired

> medications, you either throw it in the trash can or it flush it down the

> toilet, " he said. Medicines that get passed through the body end up in

urine

> and feces that's then sent on to waste treatment centers. Even medications

> to treat household pets and farm animals can also be problematic, Koplin

> explained.

> Pharmaceutical pollution is not a household buzzword yet, said Kenneth

> Dickson, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of North

> Texas in Denton near Dallas-Fort Worth. Medications found in the streams

> have been used for decades, so Dickson said it's unclear how long these

> pharmaceuticals have been lingering in the water and what happens to them.

> " The capabilities to detect pharmaceuticals in very small concentrations

has

> increased, " Dickson told UPI. " It is a pea soup of low concentrations of a

> variety of different kinds of compounds and materials. "

> There is particular concern about whether the hormone contaminants found

> could affect the biochemistry and reproductive abilities of not just the

> creatures in the stream, but also humans, Dickson said. " This is something

> we didn't really know a lot about. "

>

>

> Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

>

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