Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs)
What are PPCPs?
Should I be concerned about PPCPs in our surface water? |
Pharmaceuticals refer to prescription and over-the-counter therapeutic drugs and veterinary drugs. Personal care products refer to products used for personal and cosmetic reasons such as soaps, fragrances, and cosmetics.
PPCPs are being discovered in our Nation's waters at very low concentrations. PPCPs are persistent in aquatic environments due to their continual release from discharges of treated and untreated wastewater. The US EPA reports that by the mid-2000s, there were increasing reports of the occurrence of PPCPs in surface waters and sediments. To date, research throughout the world has not demonstrated an impact on human health from trace amounts of hormones or other pharmaceuticals and personal care products found in water. While these trace substances may be detected at very low levels in source waters, people regularly consume or expose themselves to products containing these substances in much higher concentrations through medicines, food and beverages and other sources. The level in which they are found in source waters is very small in comparison. |
The Watershed Council is keeping their eyes on PPCPs
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