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Contaminants of emerging concern, pharmaceutical and personal care products

• In 2011 Al Alwan, Ph.D.Water Quality Branch, Water Division, Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 presented a web based seminar on Alternative Approaches to Address Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCP) Environmental Fate.
• Prescription For The Future?
  The presenter was Herbert T. Buxton - U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Coordinator: What's in Our Wastewaters and Where Does it Go?
• Is Your Toilet On Drugs? One Page Safe Disposal Advice
• Water To Waste Section Six and Seven: The many amazing things that end up in the waste stream and why we should be careful and concerned.PPCP education page.

Pharmaceutical Safe Disposal and Wastewater Treatment Options
in NW MI
In April of 2008, EPA Region 5 issued the Great Lakes Earth Day Challenge:
“to collect and properly dispose of old and unused, expired or unwanted medicine. EPA's goal is to collect at least 1 million pills to keep contaminants out of the Great Lakes.”
The total actually collected exceeded 4.5 million...............
Onsite Wastewater considered taking part in this one day event - but the Board chose instead to invite community leaders to meet and discuss creating a regional program that would address this growing issue throughout the year. Through the generous support of a planning development grant from Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, with matching support from the Joyce Foundation, a sustainable safe disposal and public education collaborative Team has now formed to address this issue. Read a summary here.

The Team saught a two year safe collection and disposal implementation grant for 7 counties through EPA CARE program which unfortunately was unsuccessful.
The Team is also developing a 2 year Rx research proposal to determine if area soils provide Rx residual removal rates similar to those of other states.

Team Member Grand Traverse County promotes participation in their successful "Take It Back" program. This link provides information of 5 local pharmacies who now take back non-controlled medications.

 

In April, 2009, a professional paper was delivered at the NOWRA Technical Conference on the Rx.

 

Assessment of the Emerging Issues of Concern regarding Pharmaceutical Products Unwanted Medicine Disposal: Doing it the Right Way April 2, 2008. Cleary University, Johnson Center (Howell, Michigan)

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USEPA Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water.

Researchers for a recently completed WERF project have identified key baseline information concerning the estrogenicity and concentrations of individual trace organic compounds during common wastewater treatment processes.

What's in Our Wastewaters and Where Does it Go?
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)