Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products PPCP in the Wastewater

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Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCP)
in the Wastewater

• Presented by Kalina Warren and Jenny Farrell

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Background

• 9 million of organic and inorganic chemicals are
  available commercially
• 2,000 pharmaceuticals approved for human use and
  more for veterinary use
• PPCP include
• Medications over the counter and prescription
• Pain
• Depression
• Colds
• Birth control
• Antibiotics
• Control substances (narcotics)
• Veterinary drugs
• Supplements (e.g., vitamins)
• Cosmetics
• Fragrances
• Sun-screen products
• Diagnostic agents
• 3.3 billion prescriptions written per year (2001)

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USGS Nationwide Reconnaissance
1999-2000 on occurrence of pharmaceuticals,
hormones, and other organic wastewater (OWC)
contaminants in water resources

• Samples collected throughout 30 States
• 95 compounds
• 139 streams downstream from urban area
• OWC found in 80
• 82 out of 95 compounds found
• Up to 38 OWCs found in any given sample
• Single concentrations were low but cumulatively
• Most frequently found steroids, caffeine,
  microbial disinfectant, fire retardant,

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Sources of contamination

• Human excretion
• Disposal of unused PPCP (possibly up to 25
  purchased medications are disposed off unused)
• Hospital
• Vet offices
• Nursing homes
• Pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing
  facilities
• Landfill leachate
• Households
• Study in Gainesville (Mousa and Seaburg, 2004) of
  disposal of unused medications
• 49 via toilet
• 45 via trash
• 3-4 via pharmacy
• 3-4 other
• Run-off from animal feeding operations

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Effect on the environment

• Typically found in low concentrations
• New technologies allows greater detection
• Persistence
• Some PPCP are easily broken down
• By products of degradation may be persistent
• Constant introduction into environment
• Chronic effect
• Very little data - environmental toxicology
  focuses on acute effects rather than on long term
  exposure
• Synergy while one drug may only be at ppb or
  ppt level, in combination with others may have
  significant effect
• PPCP dissolved easily in water dont evaporate
  at normal temperature and pressure
• Found in waters, including wastewater, surface
  water, ground water, drinking water

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Effect on the environment, cont.

• Mutating fish
• 2003 Potomac River study near Moorfield, W.VA
• Fish with lesions
• 42 of male bass developed eggs
• 2005 Boulder Colorado study
• Female to male ration 9010 link to presence
  of estradiol, a birth control hormone
• Study in UK
• Paper written in 2004 Boys will be girls
  eventually
• Musks (fragrances) and mussels
• Study by Stanford University in California found
  that short term exposure compromise immune system
• Microbes and antibiotic resistance
• Antimicrobial soaps not necessary in everyday
  use, ordinary soaps are as effective (Center for
  Disease Control)

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Effect on the environment, cont.

• Hormonally active UV filters in sunscreens
• 4-MBC Detected in Switzerland in fish downstream
  from WWTF
• Endocrine disrupting effects in rats at these
  levels
• Industry in EU evaluation found no estrogenic
  effect in humans weigh environmental risk
  against skin cancer prevention
• Due to bad publicity a few years ago Scandinavia
  substituted with safer UV
• 4-MBC levels in Switzerland decreasing since 2002
  immediate environmental effect
• Antidepressants
• Found in drinking water in UK
• Shark blood of the coast of Florida
• Epileptic and antidepressant drugs
• Found in Norwegian Arctic city
• Ibuprofen and caffeine
• Found in many locations around the world
• Earthworms and biosolids
• Recent study in Colorado soybean fields
  fertilized with biosolids

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Effect on the environment, cont.
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Treatment due to a variety of compounds no
single method of treatment exist

• Grandular Activated Carbon
• Lime
• Powdered Activated Carbon Treatment (PACT)
• SBRs, distillation, and evaporation
• Filtration-purifying techniques/microfiltration
• Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)-effective even when
  operating conditions changed
• Reverse Osmosis-water forced through a
  semipermeable membrane that blocks the passage of
  other molecules.
• Usually combined with addition of grandular
  activated carbon (lime) and microfiltration for
  increased effectiveness of PPCP removal.
• Very costly and water lost to brine formation,
  which is a disposal problem.

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Treatment, cont.

• Activated Sludge-secondary treatment
  system/conventional
• Removal through adsorption and bio-degradation.
• Low levels still remain in effluent and receiving
  waters
• Some degrade in small amounts or not at all
• Could extend retention time to improve treatment
• Not as effective when operating conditions change
• Effluent Disposal
• Percolation Pond-longer it takes to get to
  aquifer the better
• Once disposal occurs bio-degradation, sorption,
  and photodregradation will help lower
  concentrations of PPCPs
• Thermophilic Treatment for Biosolids-aerobic and
  anaerobic
• Large Facilities will benefit
• Some compounds will degrade in aerobic conditions
  but not anaerobic conditions.

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Treatment, cont.

• Solar Treatment for Wastewater Effluent
• Smaller Facilities will benefit
• Catalyst Addition- Fe-TAML or Fe-B
• This catalyst in the presence of hydrogen
  peroxide will quickly effectively destroy some
  PPCPs in post treatment wastewater.
• Could also destroy harmful bacterial spores.
• Nomix Toilet-Experimental Stages
• Urine makes up 1 of total volume of wastewater
• About 50 to 80 nutrient content
• Separates urine and solids
• Urine goes to storage tank and solids into sewage
  system
• The nutrients in the urine will be recycled as
  fertilizer and any micropollutants will be
  destroyed

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New Challenges - associated with the Treatment
of PPCPs

• Further research is needed to determine if any
  byproducts are produced from current and future
  treatment processes.
• Example-Chlorine disinfection and the formation
  of trihalomethanes
• No municipal sewage treatment plants have been
  engineered specifically for PPCP removal.
• Are treatments altering PPCPs chemically or are
  they removed completely.
• How are we going to measure it?
• What PPCP chemicals will be monitored in the
  future and how will that be determined?

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Agencies regulating disposal

• Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulates
  control substances
• Unused Control substances are rendered
  non-recoverable
• Medicare destruction of unused medications has
  to be witnessed
• Food and drug Administration
• Requires Environmental Assessment for new
  pharmaceuticals
• Exempt if expected introduction concentration is
  lt0.1 ppb
• EPA considers them solid waste
• Some are hazardous waste
• European Medicines Agency
• European Directives calling for more direct
  testing of pharmaceuticals
• New limit of lt0.01 ppb Environmental
  Concentration
• State and local agencies

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Organizations - taking lead in developing
policies and regulations on PPCP in the
environment

• National Association of Clean Water Agencies
• EPA
• Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grants to study
  PPCP
• Office of Research and Developments
• Office of Water Methods
• USGS
• Organic Chemicals in Mississippi River
• North Carolina Water Center
• States Government
• Harvard School of Public Health
• Other Universities

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You can help !

• Dont ask for medication that you do not need
• Dont flush unwanted medication down the toilet
  or the drain
• Minimize the use of other products (e.g.,
  cleaning, fragrances)
• Start public education
• Labeling program with disposal information
• Leaflets issued by pharmacies
• POTW campaigns through bill stuffers
• Other options for disposal
• Community collections
• Take-back programs