Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Canadian Municipal Wastewater

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) enter municipal wastewater after use by consumers, and may be degraded during the wastewater treatment process, remain unchanged in effluent, or partition to solids. Their detection in environmental matrices is a result of wastewater effluent discharges and land application of digested biosolids. Results of environmental effects research to date indicate that some PPCPs exhibit detrimental effects such as endocrine disruption or inhibition of an organism's ability to excrete xenobiotics.In 2002 Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Environment embarked on a large-scale research study to generate information for development of risk management strategies to control the release of PPCPs into the Canadian environment. This study included development of analytical methods; surveys of PPCPs in influents, effluents, and solids; and controlled bench-scale studies. This presentation provides an overview of these recent Canadian research activities.