New findings on emerging contaminants( While you might think that the vast ...),Health

While you might think that the vast ocean could dissipate these chemicals, Bay says dilution is not the solution: More than a billion gallons of treated municipal wastewater are discharged into Southern California coastal waters every day. Our study shows that some of these contaminants can be detected in sediments and water, even though the effluent is immediately diluted at least one hundredfold upon discharge.

Because most municipal treatment plants do not completely remove chemicals from wastewater, this study could have implications for groundwater and surface water. Treated wastewater effluent is sometimes discharged into rivers and used to replenish groundwater or to irrigate landscapes. If these chemicals are not filtered out through natural processes, they could end up in our drinking water supplies.

Carolyn Sotka, a contractor who is a senior science policy analyst at NOAAs Oceans and Human Health Initiative, says, Its ironic that although we use drugs and products to benefit our health and well-being, we can sometimes in turn hurt our environment and ourselves. Studies such as these force us to see the whole picture, to make the connection not only between land and sea, but also how what we put in or on our bodies or use in our homes can affect our world. Sotka says a better understanding of the impacts of emerging contaminants will lead to improved management decisions for the environment, especially coastal ecosystems that are already battling such a multitude of stresses.

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