In the article "Pharmaceutical Disposal" by Burch (2015), he discussed about the rising concern of water pollution in United States due to the improper ways of drug disposal. He also mentioned the act of "flushing unwanted or unused medications" as a factor due to common practice and absence of drug filtration in "wastewater treatment plants". Although the effect on humans are unclear, negative effect on "fish and aquatic life" have been proven. However, the severity of the issue is still uncertain due to the lack of regulation and/or policies in place. At the end, the author also presented a possible solution to be the prevention of "flushing drugs" by providing "access to safe and convenient pharmaceutical disposal options".
"Pharmaceutical disposal" is indeed a rising concern of water contamination. However the author focused it as a key issue and did not explore other contributing factors. I disagree with the author's stance to a certain extent, as I believe that there are contributions from other major factors besides improper ways of disposal.
It is certainly true that improper disposal of pharmaceutical products is one of the factors contributing to water contamination, even in drinking supplies. However, the article only took into consideration of the "pharmaceutical disposal" by the public and healthcare facilities. It did not consider those of industrial waste. For example, Bienkowski and Environmental Health News (2013) reported that "More than 1,400 wastewater treatment plants in the United States and Canada discharge 4.8 billion gallons of treated effluent into the Great Lakes basin every day" when they discussed about the findings of a study conducted by the International Joint Commission.
In the article, adverse effects on the aquatic life were also mentioned. According to Shah (2010), toxicity research on wildlife is generally studied on aquatic species. However, I feel that we should also explore the chain effect in the other areas. There are no proper definitions as to which type of species or organisms in the ecosystem would provide an accurate representation of the wildlife, since all of them have different behaviour patterns, anatomy etc. As mentioned by Kidd et al. (2014), "small-scale studies focusing solely on direct effects are likely to underestimate the true environmental impacts". Even though the negative effects on the aquatic life are proven, I feel that it should only serve as an indicator and reference while we continue to research the effects on the ecosystem.
In the article, Burch also mentioned that "a critical part of the solution is to STOP flushing drugs" because it is a "highly prevalent and preventable source of pharmaceutical pollution." There is no doubt that the it is an agreeable point, however it failed to consider involuntary factors such as pollution due to excretion and usage of personal care products. Medicines taken are not always metabolized fully and are usually excreted out of the human body. In addition, topical medications and care products applied are also introduced into the waste through bathing. Daughton and Ruhoy (2013) also mentioned that "excretion via urine and fecal material" is the main contributor of "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)" contamination found in environment. In my opinion, it would be a more feasible solution to research on ways to improve our current infrastructure. For example, research on methods to allow wastewater treatment plants to be able to remove unwanted pharmaceutical impurities, or for companies to simplify the process during manufacturing. It is also worth noting that even though the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates water pollutants with The Clean Water Act (CWA), the list does not include medicinal products (Cuevas, 2011). Perhaps improvements should be made to the regulation. We cannot deny that even though pharmaceutical products serve as a remedy to illness, it can also become an undesired toxin which will in turn harm us. In comparison to the United States, there is a stricter control in Singapore. Pollution control is regulated under the authority of the National Environmental Agency (NEA). Different factors are considered and cross-referenced as as whole, for example, the control of soil pollution are considered with the regulation of water pollution. In addition, NEA considers pharmaceutical and pathogenic wastes under their "list of toxic industrial wastes", along many others.
In general, this article served well as a general introduction to water pollution by pharmaceutical factors. It included the main idea of contamination due to direct disposal, though it lack insight to other factors besides the given point.
References:
Burch, LW. (2015, March 4). Pharmaceutical Disposal. Retrieved from: http://www.citizenscampaign.org/campaigns/pharmaceutical-disposal.asp
Bienkowski, B & Environmental Health News (2013, November 22). Only Half of Drugs Removed by Sewage Treatment. Retrieved from: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-half-of-drugs-removed-by-sewage-treatment/
Cuevas G. (2011, February 8) From Therapeutic Drugs to Toxic Contaminants: Pharmaceutical Pollution in the Water and Strategies to Regulate Its Impact. Retrieved from: http://www.columbiaenvironmentallaw.org/articles/from-therapeutic-drugs-to-toxic-contaminants-pharmaceutical-pollution-in-the-water-and-strategies-to-regulate-its-impact
Daughtona CG & Ruhoy IS (2013, January 15) Lower-dose prescribing: Minimizing “side effects” of pharmaceuticals on society and the environment. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 443, p324–337. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969712013927
Kidd KA, Paterson MJ, Rennie MD, Podemski CL, Findlay DL, Blanchfield PJ, Liber K. (2014, October 13). Direct and indirect responses of a freshwater food web to a potent synthetic oestrogen. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2014 369 20130578; DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0578. Retrieved from: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/369/1656/20130578
National Environmental Agency. The Schedule. Retrieved from: http://www.nea.gov.sg/docs/default-source/anti-pollution-radiation-protection/soil-pollution/20100505422108755681.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Shah S. (2010, April 15) As Pharmaceutical Use Soars, Drugs Taint Water and Wildlife. Retrieved from: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_pharmaceutical_use_soars_drugs_taint_water_and_wildlife/2263/
Last edit: 02/10/2015, 0122.
Hi Louise, some pointers to take note:
ReplyDelete"However, the article only considered the pharmaceutical disposal by the public and healthcare facilities." -> However, the article only took into consideration of the.......
"Toxicity research on wildlife are generally studied on aquatic species (Shah, 2010). " -> According to Shah (2010), toxicity research.....
"species or organism in the ecosystem would be a more accurate representative of the whole wildlife," -> species or organisms in the ecosystem would provide an accurate representation of the wildlife...
Hi Louise,
ReplyDelete2nd paragraph: you mentioned that other than the pharmaceutical disposal is only one of the factors contributing to water contamination in water sources and drinking water. You also mentioned about the contamination caused by industrial waste after being treated. However, I feel that it would be better if you could find statistics to show that industrial waste is causing more contamination than flushing pharmaceuticals.
3rd paragraph: There is a sudden jump of topic from the 2nd paragraph (water contamination) to the 3rd (effects on wildlife). I think you should have linking sentences at the beginning to show that you will be talking about the effects on aquatic species.