A Reduction in Triclosan and Triclocarban in Water Resource Recovery Facilities’ Influent, Outfall, and Biosolids Following the U.S. FDA’s 2013 Proposed Rulemaking on Antibacterial Products

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) comprise a large and diverse group of chemical compounds, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs and cleaning agents. Although PPCPs in the outfall and biosolids of water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) are currently not regulated, public interest led the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to monitor for 11 PPCPs in the influent, outfall, and biosolids at their seven WRRFs. In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule establishing that 19 specific ingredients, including triclosan and triclocarban, were no longer generally recognized as safe and effective, which prohibits companies from marketing soaps as antibacterial if they contain one or more of these ingredients. Since the proposed rulemaking in 2013, manufacturers began to remove these active ingredients from their products. Annual monitoring of 11 PPCPs from 2012-2016 demonstrated a 56% decrease in triclosan and 54% decrease in triclocarban in per capita influent loading into seven WRRFs. There was also a 57% decrease in per capita outfall loading for triclocarban. There was a 65% decrease in triclosan and 55% decrease in triclocarban concentrations in biosolids. There were no consistent trends in the other nine PPCPs during the same period.