Pharmaceuticals & personal care products in the environment
All chemicals ingested or applied externally have the potential to be introduced into sewage systems and from there to aquatic or terrestrial environments. When those chemicals are components of personal care products such as suntan lotions, makeup, and toiletries, or human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, they represent a particular class of pollutants now being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency, water and sewage treatment services and academia. These chemicals are given the acronym PPCP to facilitate communication and research on what can be a mind-boggling array of substances.1
At present no research has determined the effects of constant exposure to current levels, which are known not to be at hazardous levels at any given time (in fact those measured are found in the single digit parts per trillion, or one-millionth of a gram per liter of water). However, scientists are anticipating a future problem due to the presence of a constant low background level that is constantly replenished, the possible but unknown effects of long term exposure and the unknown reactions with substances in the environment.
This issue is getting a lot of attention because most of the development in detection techniques has taken place in the last five to ten years. As an example of some of the work going on in this area, one recent researcher has detected the presence of antibiotics, particularly fluoroquinilones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines in several water bodies in North Carolina.2 The concern for the presence of these substances in the environment reflects not so much their suddenly burgeoning number, but rather the development of techniques that can actually detect the extremely small concentrations they exist in. While considering a single pharmaceutical or household chemical in small concentrations may not seem a threat, one must remember that there are tens of thousands of such chemicals, many of which have been used for decades. Fifty of these have already been identified in most places they were looked for, up to 1999, but most classes of PPCP have yet to even be searched out.
PPCPs Are Everywhere
PPCP entry into the environment occurs from many sources. Individuals use these products externally or ingest them, later excreting them in their original or derivative forms. Hospitals, pharmacies, and physicians are also significant sources. The factories that manufacture these products are also responsible for their introduction. Also of note is the use of some PPCPs as pest control, particularly warfarin, caffeine, and acetaminophen. PPCPs not released into sewage streams can also be disposed of in landfills, where the danger of leaching into the soil is present. Lastly, the use of sewage biosolids as fertilizer is yet another way these substances can find their way into the environment. Once there, they primarily impact the organisms living there: plants, amphibians, mollusks and fish are all particularly vulnerable to PPCPs introduced into their habitat.
Unfortunately, no single treatment can remove them all; presently no treatment in any water system is designed to address the presence of these chemicals.3 Sewage (and drinking water) treatment processes focus on a specific set of contaminants as defined by the EPA despite the fact that waste streams and some drinking water sources are known to contain numerous other chemicals. It would be virtually impossible for any regulatory body to study the effects of, monitor the environmental levels of, and design and implement treatment techniques for the ever-expanding menu of artificial substances introduced into the aquatic environment, anywhere near as fast as they are being produced. Not only the active chemicals contained in PPCPs but also the inert or non-functional chemicals a source of concern. These include propellants, solvents, stabilizers, excipients in prescription drugs, and preservatives. Some of these pose an additional danger as air pollution as well.
Present concerns about the presence of PPCPs in aquatic environments center around the disruption of hormones in fish by estrogens and the overuse of antibiotics causing the release of resistant pathogens which can then be naturally selected for. The effects of the continual presence of all PPCPs on life (both aquatic and human) are also an area of concern and study. Of the myriad substances possibly present, the effects of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (antidepressants), calcium channel blockers (blood pressure), and proton pump inhibitors (acid reflux) seem to have the greatest potential for undesired effects. In addition, the known presence of antiepileptics and chemotherapy agents, which have known human toxicities, can also be worrisome. In 2000, the top drug markets included cardiovascular, digestive, antidepressant, anti-infective and respiratory medicines, with total sales of $92 billion, which is almost half of worldwide sales. Considering the quantity of drugs this represents, one has to wonder how much actual chemical product is reaching the environment!
So how are PPCPs relevant to the achievement of socialism? A second look at the top-selling drugs mentioned makes one wonder how much the existence and prevalence of these drugs are a result of the unhealthy lifestyles we are trapped in as a result of capitalist consumer society. Just why is there such a demand for these drugs, or rather, why are people so sick? Or are they? How much prescribing is done nowadays to avoid future responsibility or culpability if a patient dies, or as the result of favors and kickbacks from the pharmaceutical industry? Perhaps these problems are symptoms of a society that always looks for a quick fix, without regards to the consequences. People generally consider the existence of modern pharmaceuticals and personal care products as one of the benefits of progress and technological advancement.
Quick Fixes Are $$$uper!
But rarely the do true believers in capitalist and consumerist culture ever stop to consider the costs borne in producing the modern marvels they just can’t do without. Once it goes down the drain it becomes someone else’s problem or simply disappears. This kind of mindset cannot exist in socialism – the emphasis on sustainability and the principle of production for use and not profit will cause society to carefully consider how to provide a standard of living that produces the best quality of life for everyone while using the least possible labor and producing the least amount of waste. Hopefully, instead of makeup, sunscreen, Vasotec and Viagra being washed down the pipes, we can instead watch greed, vanity, and toxic lifestyles follow the same swirly path into oblivion.
Better living through chemistry?
Pharmaceuticals & personal care products in the environment
All chemicals ingested or applied externally have the potential to be introduced into sewage systems and from there to aquatic or terrestrial environments. When those chemicals are components of personal care products such as suntan lotions, makeup, and toiletries, or human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, they represent a particular class of pollutants now being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency, water and sewage treatment services and academia. These chemicals are given the acronym PPCP to facilitate communication and research on what can be a mind-boggling array of substances.1
At present no research has determined the effects of constant exposure to current levels, which are known not to be at hazardous levels at any given time (in fact those measured are found in the single digit parts per trillion, or one-millionth of a gram per liter of water). However, scientists are anticipating a future problem due to the presence of a constant low background level that is constantly replenished, the possible but unknown effects of long term exposure and the unknown reactions with substances in the environment.
This issue is getting a lot of attention because most of the development in detection techniques has taken place in the last five to ten years. As an example of some of the work going on in this area, one recent researcher has detected the presence of antibiotics, particularly fluoroquinilones, sulfonamides, and tetracyclines in several water bodies in North Carolina.2 The concern for the presence of these substances in the environment reflects not so much their suddenly burgeoning number, but rather the development of techniques that can actually detect the extremely small concentrations they exist in. While considering a single pharmaceutical or household chemical in small concentrations may not seem a threat, one must remember that there are tens of thousands of such chemicals, many of which have been used for decades. Fifty of these have already been identified in most places they were looked for, up to 1999, but most classes of PPCP have yet to even be searched out.
PPCPs Are Everywhere
PPCP entry into the environment occurs from many sources. Individuals use these products externally or ingest them, later excreting them in their original or derivative forms. Hospitals, pharmacies, and physicians are also significant sources. The factories that manufacture these products are also responsible for their introduction. Also of note is the use of some PPCPs as pest control, particularly warfarin, caffeine, and acetaminophen. PPCPs not released into sewage streams can also be disposed of in landfills, where the danger of leaching into the soil is present. Lastly, the use of sewage biosolids as fertilizer is yet another way these substances can find their way into the environment. Once there, they primarily impact the organisms living there: plants, amphibians, mollusks and fish are all particularly vulnerable to PPCPs introduced into their habitat.
Unfortunately, no single treatment can remove them all; presently no treatment in any water system is designed to address the presence of these chemicals.3 Sewage (and drinking water) treatment processes focus on a specific set of contaminants as defined by the EPA despite the fact that waste streams and some drinking water sources are known to contain numerous other chemicals. It would be virtually impossible for any regulatory body to study the effects of, monitor the environmental levels of, and design and implement treatment techniques for the ever-expanding menu of artificial substances introduced into the aquatic environment, anywhere near as fast as they are being produced. Not only the active chemicals contained in PPCPs but also the inert or non-functional chemicals a source of concern. These include propellants, solvents, stabilizers, excipients in prescription drugs, and preservatives. Some of these pose an additional danger as air pollution as well.
Present concerns about the presence of PPCPs in aquatic environments center around the disruption of hormones in fish by estrogens and the overuse of antibiotics causing the release of resistant pathogens which can then be naturally selected for. The effects of the continual presence of all PPCPs on life (both aquatic and human) are also an area of concern and study. Of the myriad substances possibly present, the effects of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (antidepressants), calcium channel blockers (blood pressure), and proton pump inhibitors (acid reflux) seem to have the greatest potential for undesired effects. In addition, the known presence of antiepileptics and chemotherapy agents, which have known human toxicities, can also be worrisome. In 2000, the top drug markets included cardiovascular, digestive, antidepressant, anti-infective and respiratory medicines, with total sales of $92 billion, which is almost half of worldwide sales. Considering the quantity of drugs this represents, one has to wonder how much actual chemical product is reaching the environment!
So how are PPCPs relevant to the achievement of socialism? A second look at the top-selling drugs mentioned makes one wonder how much the existence and prevalence of these drugs are a result of the unhealthy lifestyles we are trapped in as a result of capitalist consumer society. Just why is there such a demand for these drugs, or rather, why are people so sick? Or are they? How much prescribing is done nowadays to avoid future responsibility or culpability if a patient dies, or as the result of favors and kickbacks from the pharmaceutical industry? Perhaps these problems are symptoms of a society that always looks for a quick fix, without regards to the consequences. People generally consider the existence of modern pharmaceuticals and personal care products as one of the benefits of progress and technological advancement.
Quick Fixes Are $$$uper!
But rarely the do true believers in capitalist and consumerist culture ever stop to consider the costs borne in producing the modern marvels they just can’t do without. Once it goes down the drain it becomes someone else’s problem or simply disappears. This kind of mindset cannot exist in socialism – the emphasis on sustainability and the principle of production for use and not profit will cause society to carefully consider how to provide a standard of living that produces the best quality of life for everyone while using the least possible labor and producing the least amount of waste. Hopefully, instead of makeup, sunscreen, Vasotec and Viagra being washed down the pipes, we can instead watch greed, vanity, and toxic lifestyles follow the same swirly path into oblivion.
- Tony Pink
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