What are Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products?
According to the EPA, ."Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) refers, in general, to any product used by individuals for personal health or cosmetic reasons or used by agribusiness to enhance growth or health of livestock.” PPCPs include thousands of chemical substances ranging from prescription and over-the-counter therapeutic drugs to shampoos and cosmetics.

How do PPCPs enter the Environment?
One important way that PPCPs may enter the environment occurs when people use medications.  Medications that people swallow may pass through the body and into sewer systems.  Medications that people put on their skin may be washed down the drain or rinsed off during activities such as swimming. Medications are also sometimes disposed in the trash or flushed down the toilet.

There are thousands of chemicals used as PPCPs, and each may last a different amount of time in the environment. Some PPCPs breakdown quickly and pose no threat to the environment or human health. Others may persist through sewage treatment.

What Health Effects May PPCPs Have?
Research has not demonstrated human health effects due to exposure to PPCPs in the environment. Environmental PPCP concentrations are typically at concentrations several orders of magnitude below therapeutic doses.  Additional research is needed to determine any potential health effects of individual or combined PPCPs.

Should I be worried about PPCPs in my drinking water?
No.  San Francisco has one of the most pristine water sources in the country.  SFPUC participated in the American Water Works Research Foundation project “Toxicological Relevance of EDCs and Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water”.  As part of the project, water samples were collected in 2006 from source and treated water. Tests included 20 pharmaceuticals and a number of chemicals that may act as endocrine disruptors. None of the tested pharmaceuticals were detected in SFPUC source or treated waters. Dr. Shane Snyder, Research Manager with the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Principal Investigator in the above study, commented in his March 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle that SFPUC had the best water tested by their lab. Dr. Snyder further commented on San Francisco's drinking water. “I don't think we've ever tested drinking water that didn't have any of our target compounds in it.”

The Associated Press, which investigated and published the series of articles on pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in nation’s drinking water supplies earlier in 2008, has more recently followed up with another news story,  The map from that article is shown below.

How Can I Help?
The best way to ensure safe water at the tap is to keep our source waters clean.  The Federal Office of National Drug Control Policy  recommends not flushing prescription drugs down the toilet unless the accompanying patient information specifically instructs it is safe to do so.

For Further Information:
USEPA Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products