U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to 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 a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists. The EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don’t show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what is being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
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 as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.
Last year, AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in drinking-water supplies. Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharmaceutical-tainted water.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don’t absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. AP also found that about 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term-care facilities.
Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out.
