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NewsTarget.com printable article
Originally published December 13 2007
Study Reveals 17 Different Pharmaceuticals In Wastewater
by Dorien Herremans

(NewsTarget) What happens to medicines after they leave your body? Norwegian
researchers have examined the presence of twenty toxic pharmaceuticals in
the wastewater coming from two Oslo hospitals. Their stunning conclusion is
that seventeen of these toxins were actually present in the wastewater! When
they examined the wastewater flowing into the water treatment works (WTWs),
they again found twelve pharmaceuticals.

Ok, so there are chemical compounds in our wastewater you might say, that's
why it's waste. Wrong. Although there are a lot of wastewater treatment
works (WTWs) on our planet, a considerable amount of wastewater still flows
back into nature. In this case, the pharmaceutically polluted water flows
into the Oslo fjord environment. Furthermore, when they examined the
purified water coming from the WTWs, the researchers were still able to
detect eleven pharmaceuticals in the 'clean' water. This is cause for
concern about the environment, people, and animals living in these fjords.
This scientific study was commissioned by the The Norwegian Pollution
Control Authority (SFT). The SFT wanted to study the presence of 20
pharmaceuticals in the wastewater during a twelve week period.

Pharmaceutical drugs are polluting our water

When Norwegian researchers examined the wastewater coming from two hospitals
(Rikshopitalet and Ulleväl) they were able to detect all of the 20 studied
substances, with the exception of three. Then they examined the water just
before it entered the purification plant. At this point in the chain, the
chemicals were already diluted. Still, the researchers were able to find
twelve different substances above detection level. The third phase in this
scientific study focused on the quality of purified water. When they checked
the water flowing out of the water treatment works, there were still eleven
pharmaceutical substances present.

The substances that were present in the highest concentration throughout
this research study were paracetamol, iboprufen, diclofenac and metoprolol.
After purification, these substances were still detectable in the water
(along with seven others). This means that the WTWs are not able to filter
out pharmaceutical drugs, on the contrary, they might even be responsible
for toxic by-products left in the purified water:

"Scientists around the world often find drugs in water samples taken from
streams and other waterways, but little is known about by-products of those
drugs created during chlorine treatment or time spent in the environment,"
said the researchers, headed by NIST chemist Mary Bedner.

In an earlier study done in 2004, researchers from the US National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) examined what happens to chemical
pharmaceuticals when they react with chlorine - a disinfectant commonly used
in wastewater treatment. One of their conclusions was that paracetamol,
which is highly present even in purified water, forms multiple byproducts
when combined with chlorine, two of which are highly toxic. When
pharmaceutical drugs react with chlorine, they mostly form hydrophobic
compounds, which tend to build up in the body. This study agrees with the
Norwegian study, that water treatment works cannot fully purify water.

What can we do about it?

There are still large areas that are not covered by water purification
plants throughout the globe. In our chemical age, we almost forget that
maybe our dishwasher water (or medicated urine) flows into a nearby brook.
And even if our waste goes to WTWs, it is not guaranteed that it will be
totally detoxified.

Preventing is better than curing

Use natural products whenever you can. Try to avoid buying any products from
drug companies. There are lots of natural alternatives available. You can
even build a pharmaceutical factory in your back yard and grow your medicine
for free!

If everyone starts taking responsibility and stops listening to the drug
companies, we might be able to turn the results of the next SFT study
drastically around. Saving the earth begins by saving ourselves!