|
|||
|
Despite state-of-the-art tertiary
sewage treatment plants that discharge treated effluent into Estrogenic compounds, growth hormones, antibiotics, molecules from plastics and other compounds can’t be seen but aren’t removed in treatment plants, and some can have a significant half-life in the ecosystem before being degraded. Capital News reporter Judie Steeves talked to a number
of scientists and others about whether we should be concerned about what is
accumulating in the water of the |
|
|||
|
By Judie Steeves Staff reporter All may not be as it seems within the
clear waters of In recent years there have been some damning studies of wastewater discharged from sewage treatment plants that still contains invisible compounds which can feminize male fish and cause other abnormalities in aquatic life. Little is known about how some pharmaceuticals behave in the environment, although we know how they react in the human body, says Dr. Jeff Curtis, associate professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences at UBC Okanagan. He says we simply don’t know what harm can be caused in aquatic ecosystems by some of the pharmaceuticals that are flushed from the human body and go right through sewage treatment plants. For example, estrogen clearly does affect other organisms, he says. As well, he says many pharmaceuticals have impact at very low concentrations, including endocrine disrupters. “We have a life-long connection to our water. It’s the nature of our system. So the kinds of contaminants we should be concerned about are those which are water soluble and persist,” he said. There are different results when the synergistic effect of different compounds is examined. Some effects can be magnified, Curtis notes. So far, no studies have been done on the level of such
compounds in However, the discovery business is hard work. It takes time and sweat and money, Curtis says. “The public perception of science is that it’s about knowing things, but scientists realize it’s about what we don’t know,” said Curtis. Responsible management of our water bodies requires that we look further into the future because it doesn’t go away, he says. The water in Brian Symonds, director of regional operations for the water stewardship division
of the environment ministry, says in the 50 years between 1956 and 2005, the
median inflow annually into the However, in one of those 50 years, it was actually 124
million cubic metres. Now that figure isn’t the actual measure of inflow. Instead, it’s the outflow minus the use, diversion, evaporation and change in storage, he explains. (The “consumptive” licenses on water in the Actual inflow can vary quite a bit from year to year, depending on the amount of evaporation in summer and the amount of snow that falls at high elevations around the valley in winter. Snow is the main form of precipitation that provides
water to keep the In a low flow year, less than 10 per cent of the basin’s inflow is made up of discharge from wastewater treatment plants, reports Vic Jensen, environmental impact biologist with the ministry’s water quality section. It represents an even smaller portion of the lake’s volume, about .06 per cent. While Jensen agrees, saying he has submitted a proposal to do some testing on a limited basis next year, but the tests are expensive and they would be looking for very small amounts of compounds, so it’s important to make sure the money is well spent. It’s only been in the past few years the technology has been available to detect such trace concentrations, Jensen says. While he expects to find such substances as caffeine and estrogenic compounds, he says it is not clear what consequences these compounds may have on the aquatic environment. Normally, wastewater is examined for nutrients, metals, bacteria, ions like sodium and chloride, suspended solids, fecal coliform and oxygen demands, he says. The ministry has been keeping an eye on the research, but until recently, there were constraints on access to testing because of the technology, he says. Some work is being done on Of greater impact than treatment plant discharges in Jensen says there are also concerns about some of the compounds in urban
stormwater that’s discharged into For such work to be done, there needs to be public interest and community engagement, he adds. “Everyone enjoys the lake and the economic benefits that flow from it,” he said. There’s a need to explore opportunities to create collective capacity to continue to report on the status of the lake, he says. Curtis believes if government agencies can’t afford to do the studies, within the Okanagan we must keep on top of the work being done elsewhere and monitor the big lake. Even the City of “Our ears are open and we’ll test when we know what we need to do,” he said. While cryptosporidium is now a common problem, “It’s not a new bug, but we didn’t identify it. We probably used to say we had the stomach flu,” he said. Fish concerns Rick Simpson, fisheries committee co-chairman for the Okanagan region of the B.C.Wildlife Federation, says he has a lot of concerns about the potential for pharmaceuticals to do harm to the aquatic environment. “We flush a lot of pharmaceuticals into the water, and
we’ve put a lot of effort into the recovery of Kokanee populations in Simpson says he has to wonder whether the introduction of chemicals through effluent may have something to do with the decline in Kokanee stocks. “It’s pretty conclusive elsewhere that extraordinarily small quantities can have quite an impact on aquatic life,” he said. “We don’t know what’s out there or whether we should be concerned.” Cattle and other livestock are treated with growth hormones and antibiotics and that ends up in aquifers and in lakes, he points out. If there are concerns, he asks: “What should be done about it? We can’t tell people to stop urinating in toilets, although we can tell them not to flush unused drugs.” Although Simpson admits it may be expensive to do tests to determine what’s out there, he notes that the cost could be higher down the line if we don’t do those tests now. Aquatic organisms are bio-indicators, he says, like the canary in the coal mine. “The list of compounds of concern is staggering,” he said. Dr. Alan Kolok, associate professor of biology at the Kolok has found that male fish are being feminized; that their livers are producing female proteins that there is no reason for males to produce. Significant research has been done in the Other pharmaceuticals such as Prozac are also having
impacts, he says. Of the most concern are rivers where such plants discharge where there’s a smaller volume of water than in a lake, he notes, and where there’s a higher density of animals who could be impacted. In lakes such as Okanagan, dilution is the solution temporarily, but he says it’s important to monitor it. There’s some controversy about the impact on humans who take water from the same source wastewater treatment plants are discharged into. “We’re playing a huge experiment on ourselves with all these chemicals,” he says. “At best, we should think more about whether to use them.” Compounds such as antibiotics and antibacterials will be around for a long time in the environment, he says. In If a particularly virulent strain is developed that way and it gets back into the human chain, he says, “we’re in deep trouble.” Just the use of antibiotics in hospitals has resulted in new strains evolving, he notes. Bacteria clean-up Aquatic biologist Heather Larratt, of “Bacteria are the garbage managers in the natural
environment. They break down material and clean up. Our food chain would flounder without them,” she said. Such compounds are very durable and their molecules are highly functional in parts per million, so even small quantities can be damaging, she says, by wiping out the natural bacteria. “I’ve switched back to regular soap,” Larratt
said. She encourages everyone to discontinue the use of antibacterial soaps. “Ordinary soap already has antibacterial properties.” As well, she warns, no one should dispose of medications by flushing them, since treatment plants are not designed to remove them from the effluent that’s flushed into the lake. She describes It’s important we take a close look at what pharmaceuticals are going through our treatment plants before there are impacts, she believes. Hormone molecules are “highly functional in parts per million,” she says, which is one drop in 40 gallons or 181 litres. Hormones encourage abnormal development, so it’s of
concern how they might impact the aquatic environment, she says. “Do we have to have a disaster before we look at it?” she asked. Prozac and pain-killers also have an adverse impact on the environment, she adds. Dr. Ken Hall is a semi-retired UBC chemistry professor who moved recently to the Okanagan. Hall has studied In They discovered some years ago that male fish were showing female characteristics. Although there’s a much lower ratio of effluent to lake water here, Hall believes we should be concerned. “People think the lake can tolerate a lot of abuse, but there is a long residence time,” he said. The good news, he says, is that the population is still relatively small here. The bad news is the population is growing rapidly. That rapid rate of growth plus an aging population that is likely to be more reliant on the use of pharmaceuticals means there should be an increasing concern about the presence of such compounds in natural water bodies and aquifers, says Dr. Rob O’Brien, an analytical chemist at UBCO. “We’re doing an interesting experiment on society; a large scale experiment with no controls,” he said. Funding would be needed for a project testing for some compounds as the measurements can now be done at UBCO, he says. The cost of such testing is $20,000 to $50,000 for a profile, and up to $100,000 for a more thorough job, he says. A good way for such work to proceed is to take on a student. That way the community gets the benefit of some leading edge research and the student benefits from the experience and education involved, he suggests. However it’s done, and whoever takes the lead, there is consensus that testing be done, and that people be more conscious of the fact that what goes down the sink, toilet or storm drains and ends up in the lake. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Send Email