GLIN==> WI Hearing on Threat Posed by Drugs in Drinking Water

Alliance for the Great Lakes
For Immediate Release
Monday, April 13, 2009


Wisconsin Hearing on Threat Posed by Drugs in Drinking Water

MILWAUKEE – Pollution stemming from drugs in drinking water is an emerging public health threat, the Alliance for the Great Lakes will testify at a Wisconsin State Senate hearing in the Great Lakes WATER Institute at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday

Alliance Water Quality Program Manager Lyman Welch is one of several experts invited to speak at the public informational hearing, which will feature testimony on how the safe disposal of unused medicine will protect the Great Lakes, drinking water and children.

“Flushing unwanted medicines down toilets leads to potential contamination of the Great Lakes and drinking water supplies,” says Welch. “Great Lakes water is generally believed to be safe for drinking, but pharmaceutical pollution is an emerging threat to public health.”

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. EPA, as well as other institutions, are increasingly troubled by studies showing organisms exhibiting altered gender ratios, sluggish behavior and even increased reproduction rates as a result of exposure to pharmaceutical and other pollutants that mimic and disrupt the body’s hormones.

Some scientists theorize these findings indicate that people, especially children and other sensitive populations, could also be affected. 

Pharmaceuticals enter our waterways whenever people take pills. Some of the medication is absorbed by the body, but the rest passes through and is flushed down the toilet. Though wastewater and drinking water is treated, most treatments do not remove all drug residues from the water.

Some people, unaware of the dangers posed by drugs in the water, continue to flush their unwanted medicines down the toilet, which also leads to the potential contamination of surface waters and ground waters. 

The hearing will be held before the state Senate Committee on Public Health, Senior Issues, Long-Term Care, and Job Creation, chaired by state Sen. Tim Carpenter, (D-Milwaukee). Testimony at the hearing will be heard from invited speakers only.

The Great Lakes WATER Institute is located in downtown Milwaukee at 600 East Greenfield Ave. Visit the committee's website at http://committeeschedule.legis.state.wi.us/files/HearingNotices//09-04-15-0130-2009SPUB-11686.html for updated information on the hearing.  

CONTACT: 
Lyman Welch, 312-939-0838 x230, or lwelch at greatlakes.org



Susan Campbell
Communications Manager
Alliance for the Great Lakes
Visit http://www.greatlakes.org



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