[Philadelphia]--Today’s
findings by the Associated Press confirm what PennEnvironment has suspected for
some time: that prescription drugs and
other medicines are now in the tap water for millions of Americans. Many of the
nation’s top health experts have predicted this growing threat for years and
have warned about the impending challenge of protecting
U.S. drinking
water supplies from increased contamination due to pharmaceutical
drugs.
This is a problem that must be
addressed quickly and correctly by local, state and federal officials including
local drinking water suppliers and municipal sewage authorities.
PennEnvironment promotes a
multi-pronged solution to the challenges faced by medicines, hormones and
prescription drugs found in our tap water:
First, the pharmaceutical
industry should prevent the unnecessary flow of its products into our nation’s
rivers and bays. Where feasible, drug makers ought to re-engineer their
products for more efficient human intake, so there are less excess active
ingredients flushed into water systems.
Moreover, we should also apply the
long-held medical maxim of “first, do no harm” to the large volume of
over-the-counter health products. While prescription drugs are at least tested
to be “safe and effective” before reaching the market, we ought to at least
certify that OTC products yield at least some benefit for consumers before
allowing them to enter our waters as pollution. The same should hold true for
the myriad hormones and antibiotics that are now administered to millions of
livestock every year, with little regard for downstream
consequences.
Secondly, PennEnvironment calls upon
the nation’s water and sewage treatment facilities to move quickly and
proactively to upgrade the technology at their facilities to protect the
American public from these and other drinking water contaminants. Experts and
industry spokespeople have stated that studies show that implementing ozone
water treatment is the most effective method for removing pharmaceuticals from
our drinking water sources, going beyond the traditional use of chlorine which
deals with bacterial contamination and some chemicals but usually cannot tackle
these newly found prescription drug pollutants. PennEnvironment calls upon the
use of the best available technology to proactively address the growing threat
of pharmaceutical contamination in the nation’s drinking water supply.
Third, PennEnvironment calls on
Congress and the Bush administration to dramatically increase the funding for
Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds which are the nation’s
cornerstone program to help communities upgrade their water and sewage treatment
facilities. These projects are important and expensive, and local water
authorities are often stretched to the limit when it comes to the extensive
financial investments needed to implement these types of projects. EPA has
projected that communities across the country will need to spend nearly $400
billion over the next 20 years to improve sewage treatment systems in order to
preserve water quality. To ensure clean water, President Bush and Congress
should fund the Clean Water SRF at $1.5 billion and prioritize funding for
projects that utilize green infrastructure to reduce polluted runoff.
Unfortunately, President Bush’s 2009
budget proposal weakens this critical clean water program. The proposed Clean
Water SRF budget of $555 million is a cut of $134 million below the FY 08
enacted level and nearly $800 million below the FY 04 funding level of $1.34
billion. This is taking a huge step backwards when it comes to tackling the
issue of pharmaceuticals or other contaminants in
America’s drinking
water supply and sends the message that protecting public health is a low
priority for the current administration.
Lastly, PennEnvironment believes
that we should require the drug companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers to
pay for the increased cost of upgrading sewage treatment plants and drinking
water facilities to the extent that their products, when used as intended, are
polluting our waterways and drinking water.
Safe and healthy drinking water for
all Americans should be a right, not a privilege. Yet with the recent
celebration of the federal Clean Water Act’s 35th anniversary and the
current attention towards this new threat to our tap water, it is critical that
our elected officials, chemical manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and
local utility and sewage treatment facility managers take the necessary steps to
protect public health and ensure clean drinking water for all Americans.
