Your prescription drugs could be leaching toxic chemicals into wastewater
The widespread use of pharmaceuticals in America is introducing even more toxic “forever chemicals” into the environment through wastewater, according to a study released Monday, and large municipal wastewater treatment plants are not capable of fully filtering them out.The plants’ inability to remove compounds known as organofluorines from wastewater before it enters drinking water supplies becomes even more pronounced during droughts and could affect up to 23 million people, scientists wrote in an article published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most of the compounds came from commonly prescribed medications including antidepressants and statins, the researchers found.They found that the organofluorines — a group that includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — were found in wastewater in eight large municipal treatment plants. The wastewater continued to contain high concentration of organofluorines and other compounds that meet the definition of PFAS even after treatment.The researchers found up to three-quarters of the extractable compounds were from 12 commonly prescribed fluorinated medicines, including antidepressants, statins and medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and HIV. The facilities removed less than 25 percent of the compounds during treatment, the researchers found.Follow Climate & environmentBridger Ruyle, the study’s lead author, said that the fluorinated chemicals from pharmaceuticals aren’t fully metabolized and leave the body with waste. They then enter the wastewater stream and the environment.“That means that downstream aquatic organisms and potentially people drinking drinking water may also now be exposed to these pharmaceuticals,” Ruyle said.The American Chemical Society and the Product Quality Research Institute did not immediately respond to requests for comment.PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, are a class of thousands of carbon-fluorine bonded compounds manufactured to make products and coatings that repel grease, water, oil and heat. The persistent chemicals are found in hundreds of household items including nonstick cookware, menstrual products, dental floss and medicines.In the spring, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the nation’s first drinking water standard for PFAS, limiting six specific PFAS chemicals from a class of thousands. The agency acted after mounting evidence suggested those chemicals in water can pose a health risk to people at even the smallest detectable levels of exposure.Wastewater collected from homes, industrial sites and businesses is typically transported to wastewater treatment plants. There, the wastewater is filtered, disinfected and discharged into streams and rivers. Some communities — particularly in times of drought — draw on water that includes the discharge for drinking water.But drought only exacerbates the amount of organofluorines found in treated wastewater that is used for drinking, the researchers found. This is because natural water supplies are diminished and do not dilute the treated wastewater before it enters the drinking water supply.Ruyle said the problem could become more pronounced as water becomes scarcer and populations grow, making it more difficult for natural water systems to dilute waste and communities more reliant on using treated wastewater for drinking.In the wastewater he tested, Ruyle said, regulated PFAS only made up about 8 percent of the PFAS found. The rest of the fluorinated compounds and PFAS present in the wastewater are not regulated by the EPA, he said. Some included precursor chemicals that can chemically transform into the regulated PFAS once in the environment, he said.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been linked to several kinds of cancer, infertility, high cholesterol, low birth weights, and negative effects on the liver, thyroid and immune system.The National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents wastewater treatment plants, said that in drought-stricken areas, the connection is closer between drinking water sources and wastewater.“Anything we eat, drink or put into our bodies … whatever types of compounds, chemicals, pollutants, whatever words you want to use, that’s all going to make its way to a wastewater treatment plant,” said Adam Krantz, the association’s chief executive. “It’s all one water. The water cycle remains the water cycle, and there’s only as much water as we currently have on Earth.”Krantz said water utilities and wastewater facilities are responsible for following the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water acts.He said water utilities and wastewater management systems should not bear the brunt of fixing PFAS-related problems; instead, it should be up to manufacturers, which are “the primary source and the ones making the money off of these products to begin with.”“The major way to avoid all of those concerns is to take the bad stuff out from the source and to make the polluter pay for that, because these things are coming into the water and wastewater treatment plants from manufacturers,” Krantz said.Water and waste utilities around the country are working to tackle chemicals in drinking water, said Ralph Exton, executive director of the Water Environment Federation, an association of water and wastewater professionals.“These utilities are largely involuntary receivers of contaminants of emerging concern … like PFAS and pharmaceuticals,” Exton said. “For example, pharmaceuticals tend to enter the waste stream through human excrement and the improper disposal of medications.”The group has urged Congress to provide more funding for research and innovation so that the cost of mitigation does not fall on utilities and their customers.Carrie McDonough, an assistant professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, said the study highlights the prevalence and persistence of fluorinated pharmaceuticals. She said we need to consider using these chemicals only when they are essential, because dilution does not reduce them to low levels.“Traditional wastewater treatment techniques that work pretty well for a lot of other wastewater-associated contaminants aren’t going to break apart a carbon-fluorine bond,” she said.While very little is known about the long-term exposures of pharmaceutical waste on people living downstream or how such waste definitively affects drinking water, Ruyle said there needs to be more research done to consider the environmental persistent secondary exposures to pharmaceuticals.“I think what this study really emphasizes is how prevalent these chemicals are in major PFAS sources and highlights the need for us to better understand what exposures and potential risks are to these classes of chemicals,” Ruyle said.
Researchers found that chemicals from pharmaceuticals that include PFAS are entering into wastewater — which can end up in drinking water during times of drought.
The widespread use of pharmaceuticals in America is introducing even more toxic “forever chemicals” into the environment through wastewater, according to a study released Monday, and large municipal wastewater treatment plants are not capable of fully filtering them out.
The plants’ inability to remove compounds known as organofluorines from wastewater before it enters drinking water supplies becomes even more pronounced during droughts and could affect up to 23 million people, scientists wrote in an article published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most of the compounds came from commonly prescribed medications including antidepressants and statins, the researchers found.
They found that the organofluorines — a group that includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — were found in wastewater in eight large municipal treatment plants. The wastewater continued to contain high concentration of organofluorines and other compounds that meet the definition of PFAS even after treatment.
The researchers found up to three-quarters of the extractable compounds were from 12 commonly prescribed fluorinated medicines, including antidepressants, statins and medications used to treat Type 2 diabetes and HIV. The facilities removed less than 25 percent of the compounds during treatment, the researchers found.
Follow Climate & environment
Bridger Ruyle, the study’s lead author, said that the fluorinated chemicals from pharmaceuticals aren’t fully metabolized and leave the body with waste. They then enter the wastewater stream and the environment.
“That means that downstream aquatic organisms and potentially people drinking drinking water may also now be exposed to these pharmaceuticals,” Ruyle said.
The American Chemical Society and the Product Quality Research Institute did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, are a class of thousands of carbon-fluorine bonded compounds manufactured to make products and coatings that repel grease, water, oil and heat. The persistent chemicals are found in hundreds of household items including nonstick cookware, menstrual products, dental floss and medicines.
In the spring, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the nation’s first drinking water standard for PFAS, limiting six specific PFAS chemicals from a class of thousands. The agency acted after mounting evidence suggested those chemicals in water can pose a health risk to people at even the smallest detectable levels of exposure.
Wastewater collected from homes, industrial sites and businesses is typically transported to wastewater treatment plants. There, the wastewater is filtered, disinfected and discharged into streams and rivers. Some communities — particularly in times of drought — draw on water that includes the discharge for drinking water.
But drought only exacerbates the amount of organofluorines found in treated wastewater that is used for drinking, the researchers found. This is because natural water supplies are diminished and do not dilute the treated wastewater before it enters the drinking water supply.
Ruyle said the problem could become more pronounced as water becomes scarcer and populations grow, making it more difficult for natural water systems to dilute waste and communities more reliant on using treated wastewater for drinking.
In the wastewater he tested, Ruyle said, regulated PFAS only made up about 8 percent of the PFAS found. The rest of the fluorinated compounds and PFAS present in the wastewater are not regulated by the EPA, he said. Some included precursor chemicals that can chemically transform into the regulated PFAS once in the environment, he said.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been linked to several kinds of cancer, infertility, high cholesterol, low birth weights, and negative effects on the liver, thyroid and immune system.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents wastewater treatment plants, said that in drought-stricken areas, the connection is closer between drinking water sources and wastewater.
“Anything we eat, drink or put into our bodies … whatever types of compounds, chemicals, pollutants, whatever words you want to use, that’s all going to make its way to a wastewater treatment plant,” said Adam Krantz, the association’s chief executive. “It’s all one water. The water cycle remains the water cycle, and there’s only as much water as we currently have on Earth.”
Krantz said water utilities and wastewater facilities are responsible for following the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water acts.
He said water utilities and wastewater management systems should not bear the brunt of fixing PFAS-related problems; instead, it should be up to manufacturers, which are “the primary source and the ones making the money off of these products to begin with.”
“The major way to avoid all of those concerns is to take the bad stuff out from the source and to make the polluter pay for that, because these things are coming into the water and wastewater treatment plants from manufacturers,” Krantz said.
Water and waste utilities around the country are working to tackle chemicals in drinking water, said Ralph Exton, executive director of the Water Environment Federation, an association of water and wastewater professionals.
“These utilities are largely involuntary receivers of contaminants of emerging concern … like PFAS and pharmaceuticals,” Exton said. “For example, pharmaceuticals tend to enter the waste stream through human excrement and the improper disposal of medications.”
The group has urged Congress to provide more funding for research and innovation so that the cost of mitigation does not fall on utilities and their customers.
Carrie McDonough, an assistant professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University, said the study highlights the prevalence and persistence of fluorinated pharmaceuticals. She said we need to consider using these chemicals only when they are essential, because dilution does not reduce them to low levels.
“Traditional wastewater treatment techniques that work pretty well for a lot of other wastewater-associated contaminants aren’t going to break apart a carbon-fluorine bond,” she said.
While very little is known about the long-term exposures of pharmaceutical waste on people living downstream or how such waste definitively affects drinking water, Ruyle said there needs to be more research done to consider the environmental persistent secondary exposures to pharmaceuticals.
“I think what this study really emphasizes is how prevalent these chemicals are in major PFAS sources and highlights the need for us to better understand what exposures and potential risks are to these classes of chemicals,” Ruyle said.