The glass of water you are drinking may not taste strange. It may look clean. But, it is brimming with contaminants, and you are swallowing hundreds of kinds of PPCPs.
‘PPCP’ stands for pharmaceuticals and personal care products: antibiotics, hormones, anti-depressants, caffeine, painkillers, heart medications, cholesterol medications, anti-cancer agents, cosmetics and fragrances.
PPCPs are in bodies of water around the world. Most exist in very low concentrations, usually parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt).
Scientists were only recently able to detect PPCPs in public water supplies, but it is likely contaminants have been in our water for as long as people have stored them in their medicine cabinets. The long-term effects of chronic exposure to humans are unknown.
"This is a huge issue, and there’s a reason it’s huge," said Peg Wendling, laboratory supervisor of Post Point Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bellingham. "I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be drinking estrogen."
The presence of hormones in water is of particular concern, especially where effluent, treated water from sewage plants, is released. These hormones, such as ethinylestradiol and estrone, are produced synthetically for contraceptive pills.
Although effects on humans are still inconclusive, PPCPs affect aquatic life and other animals.
In 1998, Canadian scientists exposed laboratory fish eggs to 1,000 ppt ethinylestradiol. Every fish was born female. Even exposure rates of only 0.1 ppt increased female characteristics in fish, producing some specimens with both male and female characteristics, known as intersex organisms. Many intersex fish had no desire to breed. It is unknown whether this exposure could result in complete future infertility.
Antibiotics are also a major concern. Up to 40 percent of the antibiotics made in the United States are fed to livestock to enhance growth and milk production and prevent disease. The animals excrete the antibiotics into waste lagoons, some of which leach into groundwater and spread to other water supplies. Some scientists believe the presence of antibiotics in water sources may be contributing to bacterial resistance. A growing number of infections, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), no longer respond to common antibiotics. These infections can be fatal. A recent study found that MRSA kills more Americans than AIDS each year.
Researchers are studying the effects of antidepressants on fish and other aquatic organisms. One study by toxicologists at the University of Georgia in Athens showed that low doses of antidepressants may have caused problems in fish development and delayed tadpole development. While an unaffected tadpole grew limbs after 57 days of development, a tadpole exposed to fluoxetine (also known as Prozac) still had not grown limbs. This is particularly dangerous for frog species that lay their eggs in temporary wetlands. If tadpoles have not matured by the time the wetland dries up, they die.
"They’re kind of our canaries in a mine," said Dr. April Markiewicz, assistant director of the Institute of Toxicology at Western Washington University. "They’re an early detection system that something is wrong."
PPCPs differ from other water contaminants such as lead, arsenic, mercury and pesticides, because they enter the water supply via human waste. The human body’s ability to break down drugs depends on medication and the individual. Between 50 and 90 percent of a drug may not be absorbed by the body, according to a 1998 Science News Online article by Janet Raloff. The remaining portion of the drug is excreted and travels with the sewage to a septic system or the local wastewater treatment plant.
Traditional water treatment processes do not destroy PPCPs. Although the wastewater undergoes extensive treatment processes and is pronounced 95 percent pure, PPCPs are still present in the effluent. This effluent is piped out of the plant and dispersed into larger bodies of water, such as Bellingham Bay. Some of the effluent seeps into groundwater and aquifers, and eventually enters the drinking water supply.
Bellingham’s drinking water comes from Lake Whatcom, and although no sewage effluent is dispersed into the lake, a septic system failure could release contaminants into the water.
"It’s like not changing the oil in your car," said Pamela Cash of Bellingham’s Roto-Rooter Plumbing Service. "A system that has not been maintained over the years will fail, and then you have a problem."
But, septic failure may not be the only concern, said Jeff Hegedus, environmental health supervisor at the Whatcom County Health Department. Septic systems release their effluent into a drainfield near the tank. This water still contains PPCPs, and may enter groundwater nearby or seep into Lake Whatcom.
"The bottom line is that septic systems are not designed to break down synthetic chemicals, and really I don’t think municipal plants are either," Hegedus said. "It doesn’t matter if you have a septic system failing or not. Pharmaceuticals will get into the lake."
Currently, Lake Whatcom is not tested for pharmaceuticals.A grant to test Bellingham Bay, Padilla Bay and Skagit Bay was proposed by Western’s toxicology department, but was denied.
PPCP contamination is gaining more recognition worldwide. The issue is how to control it and prevent further environmental harm.
"In my mind, the main problem is that in nature there are thousands of PPCPs present and nobody can tell you what the effects of those mixtures are," said Dr. Thomas A. Ternes of the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Germany.
While some PPCPs may have small or no effects on their own, combinations of these drugs and contaminants can have much greater effects.
PPCPs can be reduced or destroyed with newer technology. This usually involves a combination of extended sludge retention time, ozonation, carbon filtration and membrane reactors.
Many existing wastewater treatment plants could reduce the amounts of PPCPs released in effluent simply by increasing the amount of time sewage sludge sits for treatment, according to studies by the Poseidon Project, a European organization dedicated to removing PPCPs and improving water reuse. An increased sludge retention time boosts microbial diversity in the organisms breaking down the sludge, making treatment more efficient. The recommended sludge retention time is at least 10 days.
Another method is ozonation, a water treatment method adopted by many treatment plants in Europe. Bombarding oxygen molecules with high voltages of electricity produces ozone gas, which is capable of oxidizing PPCPs. According to the Poseidon Project, ozonation is effective for reducing the concentration of most PPCPs in effluent, but it does not remove them all.
Carbon filtration is another treatment method in which water filters through carbon material with high surface area and a positive charge, attracting negatively charged contaminants. According to Ternes, both ozonation and carbon filtering can remove PPCPs to a large extent, but it is not clear which process is better.
Another new treatment option is a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system. MBRs use a membrane to separate solids from liquids and have extended sludge retention time. Snohomish and King Counties are building a treatment plant with a MBR system known as Brightwater near Woodinville. Construction began in 2006, and the plant should be operational by 2010.
The main issue with treatment processes is cost. Many new technologies are expensive initially, but may lead to cleaner and more sustainable water use, Ternes said.
One option is prevention instead of treatment, but that poses problems as well. Unlike typical pollutants, PPCPs come from untraceable sources. In theory, everyone is contributing to the contamination.
"I think we’re still teasing out what’s happening and how to address it, let alone clean up a system that has pharmaceuticals in it," Markiewicz said. "But it’s easier to do the prevention first rather than trying to clean it up later."
PPCPs are an emerging issue, but action can be taken now. The technology exists to test for and reduce the effects of these contaminants. Aquatic life is being affected, and humans may be as well. Water is the resource that links us all. Look again at the glass you’re drinking. PPCP-free water is possible. Would you rather be drinking contaminants, or clean water?