In response to last month's widely publicized reports of drugs in our water supply, the U.S. Senate's subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality held a hearing on "Pharmaceuticals in the Nation's Water: Assessing Potential Risks and Actions to Address the Issue."

Speaking for the majority, Senator Barbara Boxer criticized the EPA for its failure to adequately address this problem. She urged the Bush Administration to launch a comprehensive program to accelerate the testing of pharmaceuticals for their endocrine disrupting effects, to establish additional rules and programs to ensure safe disposal of waste pharmaceutials, and to improve the monitoring of our water supplies for trace pharmacuticals. (Statement of Senator Barbara Boxer)

Also speaking for the majority, Senator Frank Lautenberg highlighted the broader issue of the lack of adequate regulation by the EPA and the many hundreds of unregulated chamicals that find their way into America's water supply. He expressed his concern about the long-term impact of American's drinking contaminated water. (Statement of Senator Frank Lautenberg)

Speaking for the minority, Senator James Inhofe acknowledged the concern that the public has in asking if our drinking water is safe. He assured the public that our drinking water is safe and that there is no immediate health risk. Senator Inhofe also called on the EPA to convene a working group to review the emerging scientific data and identify possible mitigation practices to reduce overall disposal of pharmaceuticals. (Statement of Senator James Inhofe)

In covering the hearings, the Associated Press reported that "The EPA was lambasted during a Senate hearing Tuesday for allowing the American public to learn that traces of pharmaceuticals are in much of the nation's drinking water from an Associated Press investigative series, not the federal government." (Senators Rip EPA Over Lack of Knowledge of Drugs in Water)

For additional information including a webcast of the actual hearing, refer to the Senate subcommittee's web site for the hearing.

PharmEcology® Associates, LLC of Wauwatosa, WI was founded in 2000 and provides pharmaceutical waste management consulting services to the healthcare industry through seminars, on-site risk assessments, and other custom consulting services, in addition to the PharmE® Waste Wizard and PharmE® Inventory Analysis. Contact us at 414-292-3959 or email us at info@pharmecology.com .