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Abstract
There has been an increasing awareness among environmental scientists in recent years of the presence and potential impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (“PPCPs”) in environmental compartments including surface water, groundwater, soil, bed sediment, and in tissue. This work highlights some of the research developments over approximately the last decade regarding pharmacological pollution in water including pollution characterization, analytical methods, removal via water and wastewater treatment plants, wastewater effluent and biosolids applied to agricultural land, environmental impacts, and methods to identify the most consequential PPCPs in terms of potential environmental impact. Nonregulatory and regulatory responses are also discussed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author thanks Professor John Bergendahl of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for his guidance and support; Dr. Dana Kolpin and Keith Loftin of the USGS for their assistance and for providing feedback on the manuscript; Meredith L. B. Russell of the U.S. EPA Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water for providing feedback on the manuscript; Ernie Panciera of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management Office of Water Resources for providing feedback on the manuscript; Barbara Fredin Fiorini for assistance with editing; and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for tuition assistance.