Better water monitoring urged

WASHINGTON — Pollution experts pressed a congressional panel Thursday for a new national approach that monitors the country's waters more broadly for the presence and impact of hundreds of recently detected contaminants from pharmaceuticals to fire retardants.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, opened her panel's hearing with a warning. A former nurse, Johnson said the presence of these contaminants makes her "question just how safe our waters actually are — especially to human health over the long term."

Equipped with more refined tests, researchers in recent years have discovered the existence of a complex brew of unregulated contaminants beyond conventional industrial and agricultural pollutants. These low-concentration, emerging contaminants include discarded and excreted pharmaceuticals, vitamins and cosmetics, as well as some pesticides and industrial compounds.

Risks are poorly understood, though there is evidence that pharmaceuticals and hormone-like compounds can harm aquatic life. Preliminary research indicates that some waterborne drugs also may promote antibiotic-resistant germs and impair the workings of human cells in the laboratory.

Some experts testified to the panel that the Clean Water Act, which aims to clean up pollution in rivers and streams, may not be equal to the task for a host of newly recognized pollutants occurring in complex mixtures.

Environmental researcher Peter L. deFur of Virginia Commonwealth University suggested the Clean Water Act could be reshaped to "require monitoring and reporting of all chemicals in discharges, regardless of the identity and chemical nature." A limited number of pollutants are monitored now.

David P. Littell, Maine's commissioner of Environmental Protection, said "it is more effective to prevent substances of high concern from entering the waste stream" than relying on the chemical-by-chemical water quality standards.

Drugs have raised special concerns, because they are designed to affect the human body at low concentrations and because their use and presence in waterways is so widespread. In a continuing investigation, The Associated Press has reported that at least 46 million Americans are supplied with drinking water that has tested positive for traces of pharmaceuticals. The stories, which began appearing in March, have prompted a national flurry of water testing and federal and local hearings like the one convened by Johnson.