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Senate Holds Hearing on Drugs In the Water
Two years ago, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy formed a task force to develop a plan to research the issue of pharmaceutical products in drinking water. Monday, an Associated Press report revealed that the group failed to carry out its responsibilities. The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality held a hearing today, hoping to put pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to take initiative on the issue.
Lawmakers called the hearing in response to a series of investigative pieces by the AP, which “revealed how drugs—mostly the residue of medications taken by people, excreted and flushed down the toilet—have gotten into the water supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas, from Southern California to Northern New Jersey.”
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), head of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, also expressed concern that trace amounts of drugs can end up in the drinking water supply when people dispose of drugs by flushing them down toilets instead of putting them in the trash. Improper disposal of drugs is a public health concern, especially in children and pregnant women, she said. Robert Hirsch, Associate Director for Water at the U.S. Geological Survey, explained that antibiotics can also harm microbial ecosystems when they enter the soil. Long-term effects of pharmaceuticals and chemicals for both humans and ecosystems, he said, are uncertain, however.
Scientific uncertainty is a central problem for dealing with drugs in drinking water. Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water at the Environmental Protection Agency, asserted that there are not enough data available to justify taking regulatory action on part of or all of a list of 140 chemicals that the Subcommittee is concerned about, including rocket fuel, gasoline additives, and pesticides. Instead, he outlined a “four-pronged” approach to addressing the problem, emphasizing that the Agency must work to improve “public understanding” of actual risks. Boxer accused the EPA of not adequately funding research that would provide answers on specific chemicals; the EPA’s lack of scientific data is its “own fault,” she charged.
Comments on this article
As I’ve always expected, the federal government isn’t going to address the problems of pollutants and dangerous contaminants (including pharmaceuticals) appearing increasingly frequently in our water supplies. This latest Associated Press article details how long it will take before government “gets it” but we have to ask if we this what we want?
Here’s the rub — with the EPA regulating only 91 drinking water contaminants currently, and a time lag of 5-10 years to get a potential contaminant onto the regulated list, there is simply no way to count on the government to address this problem. They wait until HUGE amounts of science is done, then get impact from the polluters themselves, before taking any action.
Further, while I personally believe government is monstrously too large, trying to tackle this issue would require huge spending increases. And for what? Less than .2% of water pumped from your municipal system is used for consumption. We can’t get a pot-hole filled and you expect government is going to address this problem?
There is only one solution and that is self-taxation. OK, a little bit of twist there, but the tax burden you would bear if the government wanted to address this will cost you FAR MORE than solving the problem yourself. Bummer you would have to, it was the crappy policing of industry that led to huge pollution problems to begin with. But what about drugs in the water? Just remember everyone lives downstream from someone else. And same for our animal and plant friends in the environment – they too are taking in these chemicals. Is it any wonder bees are suffering major declines, frogs are becoming hermaphroditic, male fish are developing female parts – and we wonder why there are so many advertisements for male potency drugs. Maybe all these years of drugs and chemicals in the water are making mice out of men?!? (And yes, this problem didn’t “just” appear – you know its been going on for a very long time.)
The best solution, of course, is a robustly designed system capable of removing all contaminants, no matter if they are drugs, industrial chemicals, naturally occurring problem contaminants like arsenic or radioactive isotopes, etc. The only company I know making a home drinking water filter [purification system] capable of getting out ALL the possible nasty stuff is Pure Water Systems, Inc.. Every other system we’ve looked at will leave you exposed to one thing or another. So if you want a truly robust solution you should strongly consider this company’s products.
April 15th, 2008 at 9:55 pm