A number of recent news articles have highlighted the fact that the drinking water of millions of American’s includes traces of a range of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP’s). Although it is still unknown what impact these materials may have on public health, what is known is that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other public interest groups have commenced various research studies on the impacts of the combined loads of these chemicals on the environment.

PPCP’s enter wastewater treatment plants typically via domestic sewers. Some PPCP’s break down and are processed by the human body, but others don’t break down as easily and are excreted, eventually ending up in wastewater treatment plant streams. Because the PPCP’s that end up in wastewater treatment plants don’t dissolve easily, nor do they evaporate at normal temperatures or pressure, they make their way into aquatic environments via sewage, treated sewage sludge, irrigation
with reclaimed water and other methods.

Although the EPA has not established any safety limits for PPCP’s in drinking water, the agency is moving in the direction of detecting low concentrations of these materials in water and will eventually move to assess the risks posed by them.