Bay area

BAY AREA / Don't dump old medicine in toilet / Sewage plants' operators ask public to change habit BAY AREA
Don't dump old medicine in toilet
Sewage plants' operators ask public to
change habit
- Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment WriterThursday, May 11, 2006 The Tylenol, antibiotics, ibuprofen andProzac that people toss into the toilet or downthe drain may be flowing straight to the bayand contaminating fish, warn local sewagetreatment officials who want to stop it.
Sewage plant operators who have curtailed everything from industrial waste to householdchemicals and pesticides and mercury from dental offices are now trying to reducepharmaceuticals from homes by offering a safer disposal method for unwanted pills.
The out-of-sight, out-of-mind flush recommended for years doesn't work, say representativesfor the 40 agencies that operate sewage plants around San Francisco Bay.
The plants are designed to treat human waste and other biodegradable organic materials -- notthe medicines and chemicals in consumer products that make it through treatment and remain inthe effluent that spills into the bay or ocean, and in the sludge that is used for landfill cover,incinerated or placed in farmland.
"Some of the pharmaceuticals are definitely making it through sewage treatment plants," saidPhil Bobel, manager of the environmental compliance division for the city of Palo Alto and aspokesman for the agencywide Bay Area Pollution Prevention Group.
Studies of fish in waterways near Denver, in Lake Mead and in London's Thames River havefound changes in their reproductive systems that apparently are linked to pharmaceuticals thatcan disrupt the endocrine systems, sewer officials say.
While studies continue on the effects of the drugs on marine life and human health, Bobel said,"There's something simple we can do now to cut down on this stuff. . Unfortunately, the adviceof the past was, 'Dump it down the toilet.' Now we're trying to turn it around: 'Don't dump itdown the toilet.' " The group has organized 30 Bay Area events -- called Safe Medicine Disposal Days -- wherepeople may take unwanted pills, starting Friday and continuing through May 21.
Banners at BART stations in Fremont, Berkeley, 12th Street Oakland, Civic Center SanFrancisco and Daly City advertise the events. Walgreen's drugstores, some of which areaccepting unwanted pills, are distributing flyers. Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/11/BAGI1IPJMO1.DTL&type=printable BAY AREA / Don't dump old medicine in toilet / Sewage plants' operators ask public to change habit and other hospitals are passing out information with prescriptions. Newspaper ads andSamTrans buses will carry the message.
The Bay Area events will accept all pharmaceuticals. In the future, sewage treatment districtswill develop drop-off programs similar to those for hazardous and electronic waste. Most plantsrecommend that consumers put pills in the garbage until there are proper drop-off plans.
The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts started a "No Drugs Down the Drain" program inMarch during National Poison Prevention Week. They accept pharmaceuticals except forcontrolled substances at hazardous-waste drop-off points. If people can't make it to the drop-offpoints, they ask for disposal in the garbage.
There is no evidence to show that the levels in effluent have any effect on human health. In fact,scientists are just beginning to look at the effects of pharmaceuticals on fish and other aquaticlife. No such studies have been done in California.
Some of the best testing for pharmaceuticals in California's effluent comes from Los Angelesand Orange counties.
In surveys last year of effluent treated by the high-quality tertiary method, Southern Californiaofficials found detectable levels of ibuprofen; fluoxetine, the generic name for Prozac; and theantibiotics erythromycin, trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole.
Tests also found low levels of the anti-arthritis drug diclofenac; the mosquito repellant DEET;the anti-cholesterol drug gemfibrozil; triclosan, an antibacterial agent in soap; and anti-seizuredrugs.
A big question is how much of the medicines in effluent come from human excretion and howmuch are from direct disposal.
Ann Heil, supervising engineer for Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, said she worked updata on the top 10 pharmaceuticals sold in the United States and figured out that about 90percent of the individual drugs are used up in the body while 10 percent of them are excreted.
In other California monitoring studies, the San Francisco Estuary Institute in Oakland publishedresults of monitoring in the bay and delta in 2003 in which researchers detected Tylenol, oracetaminophen, DEET and the sunscreen octyl methoxy cinnamate, as well as plasticizers, fireretardants and herbicides.
"There have been studies throughout the world that have found pharmaceuticals turning up increeks, rivers and bays,'' said Jen Jackson, pollution prevention coordinator at East BayMunicipal Utility District who's been working to get people to the throwaway event.
For more information on the Safe Medicine Disposal Days this month, go to www.baywise.org.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/11/BAGI1IPJMO1.DTL&type=printable BAY AREA / Don't dump old medicine in toilet / Sewage plants' operators ask public to change habit E-mail Jane Kay at [email protected]. Page B - 1 URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/11/BAGI1IPJMO1.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/11/BAGI1IPJMO1.DTL&type=printable

Source: http://legacy.sfei.org/inthenews/5-11-06_sfchron_Dumpoldmeds.pdf