December 3, 2008

GoErie.com

Erie Water Works did the right thing in hiring two independent companies to test our water supply.

In March, an Associated Press investigation found traces of pharmaceuticals or caffeine in the drinking-water supply of 24 metropolitan areas.

Erie’s water was not included in the original investigation, but in response to AP’s findings, Erie Water Works contracted with two labs to test for contaminants in raw and treated water.

The labs found trace amounts of some pharmaceuticals in the raw and treated water samples. The trace substances included antibiotics, a hormone, a disinfectant and a painkiller. Water Works officials stressed that there is no need for alarm about the test results. “We have a high-quality source. The end product is a very safe and reliable drinking water,” says Paul Vojtek, chief executive for Water Works.

While the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have assured consumers there is no need to worry, both agencies agree that the subject needs more study.

Erie Water Works is also in the process of installing a membrane filtration system at the Richard S. Wasielewski Treatment Plant at the foot of Sommerheim Drive, to filter out most, if not all pharmaceuticals and other contaminants from the lake.

So if trace amounts of prescription drugs and other types of personal-care products don’t seem to pose a health threat, why pay attention?

For two reasons. First, researchers are not certain about the long-term risks from exposure to even minute quantities of pharmaceuticals. “While these trace chemicals may be detected at very low levels in the water, the accumulation is real and constant and Lake Erie is no exception. (Personal-care products) and medications have the potential for serious risks during developmentally sensitive times in unborn babies,” Sana R. Sukkari, assistant professor of pharmacy practice at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, said in May. Scientists are also concerned that exposure to such chemicals hurts aquatic life. Additional research by EPA and DEP sounds wise.

Second, ideas are being floated to prevent the release of drugs into the water supply by individual consumers and by health-care institutions. Sukkari and LECOM students have been working on legislation to require mandatory safe disposal of drugs in Pennsylvania. One solution is to require pharmacies to collect unused medicines. In general, the experts agree that flushing them down the toilet is absolutely not the answer.

When state and local agencies sponsored the first-ever medicine collection in Erie on April 26, residents turned in more than 120 gallons of pharmaceuticals and personal-care products.

The test results released by Erie Water Works help to inform consumers who want to be part of the solution.