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« EWG Says: The BPA's Gotta Go | Main | In search of safe plastics »
Am I my water's keeper?
Pharmaceuticals and plastic chemicals in marine and fresh waters.
The concept of product stewardship, cradle-to-cradle, or, in more technical language, "life cycle assessment," has now acquired unprecedented urgency. It is no longer sufficient for businesses merely to manufacture a consumer item - be it a potent antibacterial pesticide or a flame retardant-loaded plastic - and sell it in the marketplace. As we look aghast at discarded products polluting the environment, we demand to know, "Whose job is it to clean up the mess?"
Let's go step by step, starting with prescription drugs and antibiotics. We all recall a deep feeling of gratitude for those moments when we really needed medicines, for a migraine or for a severe infection. But when these chemicals pass through our bodies or when unused pharmaceuticals are disposed by hospitals, nursing homes, veterinary practices or concentrated animal feedlots, they end up in our water streams.
Yes, FDA and EPA lack data showing health effects from exposure to low levels of anti-inflammatory or anti-seizure medications that come with our tap water. But that does not mean they are safe. Last April, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works called a hearing to press for more data about the effects of pharmaceutical-polluted tap water, especially for vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and newborn babies. As Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA., put it, "Fish and wildlife that live in our waters are the familiar 'canaries in a coal mine.' Scientific evidence is growing that small levels of contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, can damage reproduction and development in fish and wildlife. Science is telling us: be careful."
Next month (December 2008) the National Academies of Sciences is scheduled to convene a workshop to discuss the potential human toxicity from low doses of pharmaceuticals. Afterwards, EWG researchers will report to you on the latest science.
And let us also hear from the silent constituency. As Dr. Seuss told us in "The Lorax," his allegory about development, somebody has to speak for the trees, the Truffula Trees, that is, and the Brown Bar-ba-loots and the Swomee-Swans - all the animals and plants who in real life cannot flee from urban, agricultural and industrial effluents. In a cradle-to-cradle approach, the pharmaceutical companies should act as the responsible stewards of their products, making sure that drugs do not poison marine ecosystems and all the creatures that live in them. Already, the presence of "intersex" fish with reproductive organs of both genders has been linked to the growing load of endocrine-active substances such as pharmaceuticals in streams and lakes.
Some major drug companies are beginning to address the problem by developing biodegradable drugs, according to a recent article in the Environmental Science and Technology.
But we need to devote much more attention to this problem. Under the current FDA regulation of new drugs, pharma companies basically get off scot-free; they are not required to conduct environmental assessments for their products. This loophole must be closed, and drug manufacturers must be held accountable for the downstream impact of their products. They must design less ecologically toxic pharmaceuticals and embark on drug collection programs for proper, safe disposal at qualified facilities.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, working with municipalities should develop and fund new wastewater treatment technologies able to cope with increasing loads of potent, biologically active water contaminants. Municipal water utilities also need to work with the EPA to test for pharmaceuticals in drinking water. We need to know the full scale of the problem in order to build support for change.
Let's also consider plastic pill bottles. The U.S. Geological Survey recently identified the toxic plastic component bisphenol A (BPA) as one of five most common ground water pollutants in national drinking water sources. Production and use of BPA-laden polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins are the likely culprits. Again, marine life downstream is most at risk from this ubiquitous synthetic sex hormone. Plastic trash in the ocean is not just an eyesore but also a global transporter of pollutants - not only BPA but also PCBs and nonylphenol, which are endocrine disruptors and cancer-promoting chemicals. They accumulate in bodies of marine animals and threaten the very foundation of life on our planet.
These sobering studies bring us back to the need for stewardship. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. You make it -- you take responsibility for it, beginning to end.
Photo by Nuevo Anden
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