Hazardous Waste : EPA To Amend Universal Waste Rule To Include Hazardous Pharmaceuticals

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to regulate hazardous pharmaceuticals under its hazardous waste rules in order to ensure proper disposal so the drugs do not enter U.S. waters through wastewater effluent, an agency official said March 23.

EPA will amend its universal waste regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to include pharmaceutical products, according to Ed Ohanian, director of the Health and Ecological Criteria Division in the agency's Office of Water. Ohanian made his remarks at a congressional briefing on compounds of emerging concern that are finding their way into lakes, streams, and rivers. It was organized by the Water Environment Federation.

Ohanian was describing EPA's regulatory and voluntary efforts to prevent the disposal of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and household chemicals into the environment.

EPA's universal waste regulations at 40 C.F.R. §273 streamline hazardous waste management standards for federally designated "universal wastes," which include batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment such as thermostats, and lamps, according to the agency. The regulations govern the collection and management of the widely generated wastes, thus facilitating environmentally sound collection and proper recycling or treatment, according to EPA.

The purpose of the rules is to reduce hazardous waste in the municipal solid waste stream by making it easier for universal waste handlers to collect these items and send them for recycling or "proper" disposal.

Ohanian did not say when the agency would propose a rule to include pharmaceuticals under the universal waste regulations. "We are working on it now," he said.

In February, Ohanian said, the White House released guidelines on the proper disposal of prescription drugs to prevent misuse of the drugs and to prevent water and soil pollution (36 DEN A-7, 2/23/07).

The guidelines, Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs, provide five recommendations for handling drugs, including flushing them down the toilet, but only when the Food and Drug Administration specifies it can be done safely. The guidelines were developed by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, along with the Department of Health and Human Services and EPA. Also due out in December 2007 is a research strategy compiled by a White House task force charged with developing an integrated approach to identify research needs for pharmaceuticals and personal care products that are entering waterways, Ohanian said.

Studies Expected Soon

Aside from regulating hazardous pharmaceutical drugs under the universal waste rule, Ohanian said the Office of Water is working on three studies that will help the agency decide whether to regulate such compounds under the Clean Water Act. Under the water law, EPA can establish water quality criteria for pollutants and regulate discharges from water treatment plants, among other actions. Ohanian did not indicate what action, if any, the agency might take.

According to Ohanian, the Office of Water expects to complete in December a study of fish tissue for the presence of 37 pharmaceuticals found in discharges from five treatment plants. Next year, it will finish a study of discharges from 10 publicly owned wastewater treatment plants to decide whether to require treatment of additional compounds, including pharmaceuticals. In December 2008, the office will complete a biosolids sludge study that tests for the presence of 75 contaminants and the risk they pose to the environment.

Ohanian's remarks were underscored by Dana Kolpin, chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's toxic substances hydrology program, who told the briefing that the USGS has "definitive" evidence from laboratory experiments in Boulder, Colo., and other places around the country that chemical compounds found in pesticides, agricultural runoff, stormwater runoff, household detergents, and drugs that pass through wastewater treatment plants are responsible for "feminizing" male fish downstream of such plants.

"Whether the feminizing of male fish affects populations as a whole is another whole field of study and is beyond my expertise," Kolpin told BNA after the briefing. "The estrogenic effect is occurring downstream of wastewater plants."

By Amena H. Saiyid [The Bureau of National Affairs].

BNA's Daily Environment Report, March 26, 2007

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