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Survey of the Occurrence of Pharmaceuticals and
Other Emerging Contaminants in
Untreated Source and Finished Drinking Water
in Ontario
Ce document hautement spécialisé n’est disponible qu’en anglais en vertu du règlement 411/97, qui en exempte l’application de la Loi sur les services en français. Pour obtenir de l’aide en français, veuillez communiquer avec le ministère d l’Environnement au 416-314-7933. This material is copyright by the original publisher and provided by desLibris subject to the licensing terms found at www.deslibris.ca Note of Appreciation:

The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) gratefully acknowledges the participating
municipalities, and the owners and operators of the drinking water systems for
their cooperation in this special survey.


Ce document est la propriété de l'éditeur original et est diffusé par desLibris suivant les termes de licence stipulés au www.deslibris.ca
Table of Contents

Executive Summary

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Background
Description of the Survey
Sample Analysis and Statistical Reporting of Data Analytical Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) Levels and Occurrence of Pharmaceuticals and Other Emerging Contaminants in Untreated Source and Finished Drinking Waters General Description of the Most Frequently Detected Compounds Levels, Occurrence and Description of the Most Frequently Detected Compounds in Untreated Source Water Levels, Occurrence and Description of the Most Frequently Detected Compounds in Finished Drinking Water Conclusions
References

APPENDIX A Chemicals Analyzed in Untreated Source Water and Drinking Water
With Quality Assurance Quality Control Data APPENDIX B Detected and Non Detected Compounds in the Survey


Tables and Figures
This material is copyright by the original publisher and provided by desLibris subject to the licensing terms found at www.deslibris.ca Figure 2: Log normal distribution of the concentration of carbamazepine in untreated source (detect=64, non-detect=61) and finished drinking waters (detect=31, non-detect=92) from different water treatment plants. The MDL was 1 ng/L. Figure 3: Log normal distribution of the concentration of bisphenol A in untreated source (detect=27, non-detect=98) and finished drinking waters (detect=15, non-detect=115) from different water treatment plants. The MDL was 2 ng/L. Figure 4: Log normal distribution of the concentration of ibuprofen in untreated source (detect=25, non-detect=100) and finished drinking waters (detect=18, non-detect=105) from different water treatment plants. The MDL was 0.5 ng/L. Figure 5: Log normal distribution of the concentration of gemfibrozil in untreated source (detect=41, non-detect=84) and finished drinking waters (detect=18, non-detect=105) from different water treatment plants. The MDL was 1 ng/L. Ce document est la propriété de l'éditeur original et est diffusé par desLibris suivant les termes de licence stipulés au www.deslibris.ca
In 2005-2006, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) conducted a survey
on selected pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern to
determine their levels and occurrence in untreated source and finished drinking
water in Ontario. A secondary objective of the survey was to estimate the overall
effectiveness of drinking water systems in Ontario in reducing the levels of
pharmaceuticals from source water. In total, 258 samples were collected over a
16 month period from 17 different drinking water systems and were analyzed for
46 compounds, including pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, hormones and bisphenol
A (BPA). Of these, 130 samples were source water (125 from river and lake
sources and 5 from ground water) and 128 samples were treated drinking water
(123 from river and lake sources and 5 from ground water sources). Samples
were collected by participating municipalities in the ministry’s Drinking Water
Surveillance Program (DWSP) and analyzed at the MOE laboratory using liquid
chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) methods. A screening
level assessment of drinking water treatment for each of the most frequently
detected compounds was carried out by plotting the log-transformed distributions
of all source water and all drinking water data.
Of the 46 compounds analyzed, 27 were detected at least once in either
untreated source or finished drinking water or both with concentrations measured
in the ng/L (or parts per trillion, ppt) range. In total, 23 compounds were detected
in source water and 22 were detected in drinking water. The most frequently
detected compounds (≥10% detection) in surface water (rivers and lakes) were
carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, BPA, ibuprofen, naproxen, lincomycin,
sulfamethoxazole, acetaminophen, monensin, benzafibrate, trimethoprim,
erythromycin and sulfamethazine. However, monensin and erythromycin
measurements did not meet the quality control criteria set for this study’s
analyses. The most frequently detected compounds (≥10% detection) in finished
drinking water were carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen and BPA, with lower
measured concentrations than in untreated source water. There were only 5
sampling events that occurred at systems using ground water, and only one
compound, ibuprofen, was detected in 1 sample from ground water. Based on
comparisons of distributions of source water concentrations to drinking water
concentrations drinking water treatment appears to reduce the most frequently
detected compounds to some degree. However, these observations were
restricted to parent compounds and did not consider metabolites or degradation
products.
The survey was limited to environmental presence and did not assess any
potential human health effects. However, based on the measured levels of
1 A parent compound refers to the primary ingredient in a medication (prescription of over the counter) or primary compound that may be used in a product. The parent compound can be degraded or transformed when ingested or adsorbed by an animal and/or may be degraded or transformed once in the environment. This material is copyright by the original publisher and provided by desLibris subject to the licensing terms found at www.deslibris.ca carbamazepine, gemfibrozil ibuprofen and BPA in finished drinking water, an individual would have to drink thousands of glasses of drinking water a day to reach a maximum acceptable daily intake (ADI) for any of these detected compounds in the finished drinking water. Ce document est la propriété de l'éditeur original et est diffusé par desLibris suivant les termes de licence stipulés au www.deslibris.ca 1.0 Introduction

While it has been known for over 20 years that pharmaceuticals can enter the
environment, it has only been in the last 10 years that we have begun to identify
and quantify their presence in sewage treatment plant (STP) effluents, receiving
waters, ground water, in agricultural settings (tile drains and run-off) and drinking
water. Our understanding of the environmental presence of pharmaceuticals is
improving with the development of improved analytical methods. The science
needed to assess the potential impact of these compounds on the environment
and human health is still emerging.
The public has expressed concern regarding the implications of these trace level
contaminants in finished drinking water and the issue has been highlighted in
several Ontario and Canadian reports: Justice O’Connor’s recommendations in
part II of the Walkerton Report (2002) that “water providers must keep up with
scientific research on endocrine disrupting substances and disseminate the
information”; a CTV National survey on pharmaceuticals in finished drinking
water (2003); and, more recently a report released by the National Water
Research Institute (Servos et al., 2007). To date, more than 30 different
pharmaceuticals or other contaminants of emerging concern have been detected
in finished drinking waters world-wide and reported in peer-reviewed journals.
The detection of these compounds in finished drinking water is attributed to their
presence in the untreated source water and the inability of the treatment process
at the drinking water system to completely remove them.
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE), in collaboration with a subset of
municipalities that participate in the Ministry’s Drinking Water Surveillance
Program (DWSP), initiated a province-wide survey to determine the levels and
occurrence of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants in untreated
source and finished drinking water in Ontario. A secondary objective of the study
was to determine whether existing treatment processes at Ontario drinking water
treatment plants are effective at reducing the levels of pharmaceuticals and other
emerging contaminants in finished drinking water. This report provides a
summary of the survey.
This material is copyright by the original publisher and provided by desLibris subject to the licensing terms found at www.deslibris.ca 2.0 Background

Pharmaceuticals are known to have specific biological effects in humans at their
“therapeutic” level. A therapeutic level is defined as the dose range within which
a prescribed effect is observed in most individuals. Pharmaceuticals detected in
the environment and in finished drinking water are found well below these levels;
in fact, the range of detection/quantitation is between hundreds to thousands of
times lower than the human “therapeutic” level (Christensen, 1998; Schulman et
al., 2002; Schwab et al., 2005 and Whillhite et al., 2008).
Evaluation of the risk posed to humans by long-term consumption of minute
quantities of pharmaceutical compounds in finished drinking water represents an
area where the science is still emerging. Some concerns have been raised
regarding exposure of highly vulnerable groups, such as sensitive individuals
with specific drug allergies, the elderly and children, being continually exposed to
trace amounts of these substances through finished drinking water. However,
research to date on single compounds has not shown evidence of effects and
several reports have indicated that the low levels of pharmaceuticals in drinking
water do not pose a risk to human health (Christensen, 1998; Schulman et al.,
2002; Webb et al., 2003; Schwab et al., 2005 and Cunningham et al., 2009).
At this time, there are no Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines or Ontario
Drinking Water Quality Standards for pharmaceuticals, nor has any jurisdiction
established maximum acceptable concentrations based on health effects.
However, some jurisdictions and research institutions have addressed this issue.
For example, the Netherlands and the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) have publicly stated that there are no human
health concerns with regard to trace levels of pharmaceuticals in finished drinking
water. Australia, to support a multi-barrier approach for the sustainable recycling
of waters, has set (for recycled drinking water) non-regulatory guidelines for
human and veterinary pharmaceuticals in their “Guidelines for Water Recycling:
Managing Health and Environmental Risks (phase 2): Augmentation of Drinking
water Supplies” (Australian Environment Protection and Heritage Council).
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