A new study by EPA Victoria scientists has shown that chemicals used in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) ranging from anti-depressants, pain control and blood pressure products to anti-bacterial agents used in soap, are increasingly finding their way into the environment.
The study - Pharmaceuticals in Biota: The impact of wastewater treatment plant effluents on fish in Australia - took water and fish samples at 15 locations upstream and downstream of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) around Victoria and studied the results looking for 46 specific PPCPs.
While the study identifies an increasing presence of PPCPs in the environment, it also found that consumption of the affected fish poses a low risk to human health.
According to the study's lead scientist, Principal Scientist Ecological Risk and Emerging Contaminants, Minna Saaristo, 12 PPCPs were detected in surface waters and five PPCPs in fish living upstream and downstream from WWTPs in Victoria.
The most frequently detected PPCPs in water were venlafaxine, metoprolol, carbamazepine, propranolol, sulfamethoxazole and sertraline, which are medications used to treat a range of health issues from depression to blood pressure and heart problems, control seizures and treat pain, and present in consumer products as antibacterial agents.
Out of the 46 PPCPs analysed in fish, five compounds (caffeine, carbamazepine, sertraline, triclosan and venlafaxine) were detected. These compounds are also associated with medications used to treat depression, control pain and incorporated into consumer products as antibacterial agents.
Many of the PPCPs in the environment have likely come from domestic sources through the sewer system to the wastewater treatment plant.
"Based on our human health risk calculations, the levels of PPCPs detected in fish samples were not at levels that would cause health issues to humans, but it shows the growing need to look at source control and how wastewater treatment plants manage PPCPs into the future," said Minna.
"While PPCPs are not at such levels in the environment that they would put human health at risk, we have to be mindful of potential mixture effect of the chemical cocktail that is being created in the environment.
"A growing body of evidence shows that levels of antidepressants detected in the environment today could alter fish behaviour, such as courtship dances or fear responses, and might have a detrimental effect on population levels.
"Based our recent report (EPA publication 2054), WWTP's currently only process a part of the PPCPs. Information gathered as part of this study will assist EPA to provide advice to stakeholders on how to improve their treatment processes in the future. "
Dr Saaristo said to keep unwanted chemicals out of the environment, out of date or unwanted pharmaceuticals should be returned to the chemist for disposal.
Further research is underway. EPA, water corporations and research institutions are working together to understand the effects of emerging contaminants, such as PPCPs and to develop solutions.
An abstract of the study is available at Pharmaceuticals in biota: The impact of wastewater treatment plant effluents on fish in Australia - ScienceDirect
