Tons of released drugs taint U.S. water

By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD
The Associated Press
Near these aeration basins at a wastewater treatment plant in Wilmington, Del., elevated concentrations of the painkiller codeine were found in the Delaware River.
Matt Rourke
Near these aeration basins at a wastewater treatment plant in Wilmington, Del., elevated concentrations of the painkiller codeine were found in the Delaware River.

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U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water , according to an Associated Press investigation.

Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking. For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder. Nitroglycerin is a heart drug and is also used in explosives. Copper shows up in pipes and contraceptives.

Federal and industry officials say they don’t know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them — as drugs. But an analysis of 20 years of federal records found that the government unintentionally keeps data on a few.

The AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists. The Environmental Protection Agency monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into bodies of water under federal pollution laws. The Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The data don’t show exactly how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers. To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what’s being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.

But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.

“It doesn’t pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they’re creating,” said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years with the EPA before becoming an environmental lawyer.

Pilot studies are now confirming those doubts.

Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — were found in U.S. drinking water supplies.

For more on this story, go to KansasCity.com.