Tag: PPCPs

Selective Uptake and Bioaccumulation of Antidepressants in Fish

How antidepressants are ending up in Great Lakes fish

Antidepressant drugs, making their way through an increasing number of people’s bodies, getting excreted in small amounts into their toilets, and moving through the wastewater treatment process to lakes and rivers, are being found in multiple Great Lakes fish species’ brains.

2017 Study Abstract

The continuous release of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) into freshwater systems impacts the health of aquatic organisms.

This study evaluates the concentrations and bioaccumulation of PPCPs and the selective uptake of antidepressants in fish from the Niagara River, which connects two of the North American Great lakes (Erie and Ontario).

The Niagara River receives PPCPs from different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) situated along the river and Lake Erie. Of the 22 targeted PPCPs, 11 were found at part-per-billion levels in WWTP effluents and at part-per-trillion levels in river water samples.

The major pollutants observed were the antidepressants (citalopram, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, and bupropion, and their metabolites norfluoxetine and norsertraline) and the antihistamine diphenhydramine. These PPCPs accumulate in various fish organs, with norsertraline exhibiting the highest bioaccumulation factor (up to about 3000) in the liver of rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), which is an invasive species to the Great Lakes.

The antidepressants were selectively taken up by various fish species at different trophic levels, and were further metabolized once inside the organism. The highest bioaccumulation was found in the brain, followed by liver, muscle, and gonads, and can be attributed to direct exposure to WWTP effluent.

  • How antidepressants are ending up in Great Lakes fish, Detroit Free Press, Sept. 1, 2017.
  • Selective Uptake and Bioaccumulation of Antidepressants in Fish from Effluent-Impacted Niagara River, ACS Journal, Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b02912, August 16, 2017.

About The Personal Care Products Safety Act

Bill would help protect consumers from chemicals that disrupt hormones

Endocrine Society applauds new push to regulate chemicals in personal care products

Washington, DC – The Endocrine Society praised the reintroduction of a Senate bill to ensure consumers are protected from hazards associated with exposure to chemicals in personal care products such as cosmetics and lotions.

The Personal Care Products Safety Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins, would set a rigorous safety standard for personal care products and provide the public with more information about the chemicals in the products they are purchasing. This is an area of concern for the Society and its 18,000 members, including researchers studying how endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) disrupt the body’s hormones.

An EDC is a chemical or mixture of chemicals that can cause adverse health effects by interfering with hormones in the body. There are more than 85,000 manufactured chemicals, of which thousands may be EDCs. EDCs are found in everyday products and throughout the environment.
The evidence is more definitive than ever before that EDCs disrupt hormones in a manner that harms human health. EDC-related health outcomes include male reproductive disorders, premature death, obesity and diabetes, neurological impacts, breast cancer, endometriosis, female reproductive disorders, immune disorders, liver cancer, osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, prostate cancer and thyroid disorders.

The Personal Care Products Safety Act calls for some chemicals found in shampoo, deodorant, cosmetics and other personal care products to be reviewed for safety for the first time. The Society applauded the bill’s inclusion of propyl paraben, a potential EDC linked to reproductive disorders, as one of the first five chemicals slated for review.
By providing the necessary authority and fees for the FDA to properly regulate personal care products, the Society believes that this legislation will effectively and efficiently ensure a safer marketplace for personal care products and reduce harms from exposure to EDCs and other toxic chemicals.

Sources and Press Releases

  • Endocrine Society applauds new push to regulate chemicals in personal care products, TheEndoSociety, May 15, 2017.
  • Senators Seek Enhanced Safety Looks at Cosmetic Ingredients, promomarketing, May 15, 2017.
  • Personal Care Products Safety Act Would Improve Cosmetics Safety, ewg.
Endocrine Disruptors

Green is the New Pink

Stop Putting Cancer-causing Chemicals on Your Face

Many beauty ingredients have been linked to breast cancer.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

Personal Care Products

Are your PCPs really Safe?

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

All Advertised and Grocery Store Products are Safe

EDCs Myth vs. Fact, The Hormone Health Network Infographic

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a serious risk in modern society. These chemical compounds can interfere with the way the body’s hormones work, and they are associated with an array of health issues. Worse, they are almost everywhere: in consumer products such as pesticides, plastics, food storage materials, personal care products, clothing and more, and they also are used in electronics and agriculture.

Unfortunately, a number of myths about EDCs being safe have been perpetuated because of a lack of understanding about the realities of these chemicals and their effects on the body.

Some people claim EDCs represent no risk at all, and that all of the warnings about them are scare tactics and exaggerated. Others present myths as facts just so product sales will not be hurt. To take or maintain control of your hormone health, you must understand EDC facts so you can make wise decisions regarding your health.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

Our Skin is a Barrier to Toxic Substances

EDCs Myth vs. Fact, The Hormone Health Network Infographic

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a serious risk in modern society. These chemical compounds can interfere with the way the body’s hormones work, and they are associated with an array of health issues. Worse, they are almost everywhere: in consumer products such as pesticides, plastics, food storage materials, personal care products, clothing and more, and they also are used in electronics and agriculture.

Unfortunately, a number of myths about EDCs being safe have been perpetuated because of a lack of understanding about the realities of these chemicals and their effects on the body.

Some people claim EDCs represent no risk at all, and that all of the warnings about them are scare tactics and exaggerated. Others present myths as facts just so product sales will not be hurt. To take or maintain control of your hormone health, you must understand EDC facts so you can make wise decisions regarding your health.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

All Household and Personal Care Products are Safe

EDCs Myth vs. Fact, The Hormone Health Network Infographic

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a serious risk in modern society. These chemical compounds can interfere with the way the body’s hormones work, and they are associated with an array of health issues. Worse, they are almost everywhere: in consumer products such as pesticides, plastics, food storage materials, personal care products, clothing and more, and they also are used in electronics and agriculture.

Unfortunately, a number of myths about EDCs being safe have been perpetuated because of a lack of understanding about the realities of these chemicals and their effects on the body.

Some people claim EDCs represent no risk at all, and that all of the warnings about them are scare tactics and exaggerated. Others present myths as facts just so product sales will not be hurt. To take or maintain control of your hormone health, you must understand EDC facts so you can make wise decisions regarding your health.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

Emerging, priority contaminants with endocrine active potentials in sediments, fish from the River Po, Italy

High levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in sediments and fish from the Italian River Po and its Lambro tributary

Researchers have recommended that fish from some sections of the River Po and the River Lambro, one of the Italian River Po tributaries, should not be eaten due to high levels of some endocrine-disrupting chemicals in the river sediments and fish. This recommendation is based on an extensive update regarding pollution levels of such substances in the rivers.

Abstract

There is a substantial lack of information on most priority pollutants, related contamination trends, and (eco)toxicological risks for the major Italian watercourse, the River Po. Targeting substances of various uses and origins, this study provides the first systematic data for the River Po on a wide set of priority and emerging chemicals, all characterized by endocrine-active potentials.

Flame retardants, natural and synthetic hormones, surfactants, personal care products, legacy pollutants, and other chemicals have been investigated in sediments from the River Po and its tributary, the River Lambro, as well as in four fish species from the final section of the main river. With few exceptions, all chemicals investigated could be tracked in the sediments of the main Italian river for tens or hundreds of kilometres downstream from the Lambro tributary.

Nevertheless, the results indicate that most of these contaminants, i.e., TBBPA, TCBPA, TBBPA-bis, DBDPE, HBCD, BPA, OP, TCS, TCC, AHTN, HHCB, and DDT, individually pose a negligible risk to the River Po. In contrast, PBDE, PCB, natural and synthetic estrogens, and to a much lower extent NP, were found at levels of concern either to aquatic life or human health. Adverse biological effects and prohibition of fish consumption deserve research attention and management initiatives, also considering the transport of contaminated sediments to transitional and coastal environments of the Italian river.

More Information
  • Emerging and priority contaminants with endocrine active potentials in sediments and fish from the River Po (Italy), US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, Environmental science and pollution research international, NCBI PubMed PMID: 25956513, 2015 Sep.
  • High levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in sediments and fish from the Italian River Po and its Lambro tributary, Science for Environment Policy, January 2016.
  • Fishing Po image credit Edizonn.

Degradation of personal care products in wastewater treatment plants

Biodegradation rates vary widely between wastewater treatment plants

The non-restricted production and use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has led to their presence in effluents from treatment plants, which can pose a threat to aquatic organisms downstream. This study analysed the breakdown of six common chemicals in four Danish treatment plants. The findings shed new light on the factors affecting removal of PPCPs from waste, showing that the composition of waste is more important than the design of the treatment plant.

Abstract

Degradation of PPCPs in activated sludge from different WWTPs in Denmark, Springer, Volume 24, Issue 10, pp 2073-2080, December 2015.

Pharmaceuticals and Personal care products (PPCPs) are often found in effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) due to insufficient removal during wastewater treatment processes.

To understand the factors affecting the removal of PPCPs in classical activated sludge WWTPs, the present study was performed to assess the removal of frequently occurring pharmaceuticals (Naproxen, Fenoprofen, Ketoprofen, Dichlofenac, Carbamazepine) and the biocide Triclosan in activated sludge from four different Danish WWTPs. The respective degradation constants were compared to operational parameters previous shown to be of importance for degradation of micropollutants such as biomass concentration, and sludge retention time (SRT).

The most rapid degradation, was observed for NSAID pharmaceuticals (55-90% for Fenoprofen, 77-94% for Ketoprofen and 46-90% for Naproxen), followed by Triclosan (61-91%), while Dichlofenac and Carbamazepine were found to be persistent in the systems. Degradation rate constants were calculated as 0.0026-0.0407 for NSAID pharmaceuticals and 0.0022-0.0065 for triclosan. No relationships were observed between degradation rates and biomass concentrations in the diverse sludges. However, for the investigated PPCPs, the optimal SRT was within 14-20 days (for these values degradation of these PPCPs was the most efficient).

Though all of these parameters influence the degradation rate, none of them seems to be overall decisive. These observations indicate that the biological composition of the sludge is more important than the design parameters of the respective treatment plant.

Some Salmon we eat are on Drugs : Prozac, Advil, Benadryl, Lipitor, even Cocaine

Drugs found in Puget Sound salmon from tainted wastewater

Drugs found in Puget Sound salmon from tainted wastewater, seattletimes, February 23, 2016.

From Prozac to caffeine to cholesterol medicine, from ibuprofen to bug spray, researchers found an alphabet soup of drugs and other personal-care products in sewage-treatment wastewater and in the tissue of juvenile chinook in Puget Sound.

Abstract

This study was designed to assess the occurrence and concentrations of a broad range of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from three local estuaries within a large estuarine ecosystem. In addition to effluent from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), we sampled water and whole-body juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) in estuaries receiving effluent.

Contaminants of emerging concern in a large temperate estuary, sciencedirect, doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.01.088, June 2016.

We analyzed these matrices for 150 compounds, which included pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), and several industrial compounds.

Collectively, we detected 81 analytes in effluent, 25 analytes in estuary water, and 42 analytes in fish tissue. A number of compounds, including sertraline, triclosan, estrone, fluoxetine, metformin, and nonylphenol were detected in water and tissue at concentrations that may cause adverse effects in fish. Interestingly, 29 CEC analytes were detected in effluent and fish tissue, but not in estuarine waters, indicating a high potential for bioaccumulation for these compounds.

Although concentrations of most detected analytes were present at relatively low concentrations, our analysis revealed that overall CEC inputs to each estuary amount to several kilograms of these compounds per day.

This study is unique because we report on CEC concentrations in estuarine waters and whole-body fish, which are both uncommon in the literature. A noteworthy finding was the preferential bioaccumulation of CECs in free-ranging juvenile Chinook salmon relative to staghorn sculpin, a benthic species with relatively high site fidelity.