Study: Trace levels of drugs in Tualatin River basin

By Stover E Harger III

The Times, Sep 3, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Stover E. Harger III / Times Newspapers

INTO THE RIVER — Water run-off from an apartment building in Tigard flows into the Tualatin River.

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A newly released government study found trace levels of pharmaceuticals in the Tualatin River basin, giving clues to scientists about human impact on watersheds and the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants.

Of 21 common pharmaceuticals tested for at multiple locations along the Fanno Creek Watershed in 2002, only six were detected, and at very low levels. Caffeine, the nicotine-derived chemical cotinin, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, codeine and sulfamethoxazole were the only drugs found in stream samples. Caffeine and cotinin were the most commonly detected compounds, popping up in seven and eight of the 10 samples respectively.

What this study – released to the public on Aug. 25 – shows is the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility is effectively removing most of the chemicals that commonly make their way through the sewer system. This is despite the fact that the facility is not designed to remove pharmaceuticals.

Stewart Rounds, hydrologist and an author of the U.S. Geological Survey study, said it was a significant discovery to find that so few of these common compounds were in the urban stream and at such low concentrations.

“It appears, at least from some of these samples, that a lot of this stuff either isn’t there or it’s at such a low concentration that it may not be having harmful effects in the urban creeks,” Rounds said.

Everyday drugs make their way into water supplies through human waste, people flushing them down the toilet or by simple acts like dumping coffee or tossing cigarette butts on the ground.

Samples were taken of wastewater before it made its way through the Durham treatment plant to determine how well the facility removed pharmaceuticals. Fifteen of the 21 drugs tested for were found in the incoming waste in comparably high concentrations. Most of the pharmaceuticals were removed with greater than 90 percent efficiency.

Now that this information has been found, Rounds said the next step is to determine if the trace levels of drugs in the water are detrimental to the fish and other living organisms in the Tualatin River.

Clean Water Services, the public utility charged with providing waste- and stormwater services for the urban areas of Washington County, aided the USGS with the study. Officials say the study is a step in the right direction of understanding the impacts of contaminants in water and the affect on humans and the environment.

“We’ve come a long way from the days when a river had to catch fire for people to worry about what was in the water,” said Charles Logue, regulatory affairs department director for Clean Water Services.

On Sept. 9, a public forum will be hosted by Clean Water Services to discuss the study. It will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Durham Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility conference room, 16580 S.W. 85th Ave. in Tigard. If you wish to attend, RSVP at 503-681-5111 or at wantlands@cleanwaterservices.org.