EcoHearth Environmental Website - Best ecology websites, environmental blogs, news, activism, green jobs, green products

Imagine that your cup of tea contains water from the spring at Lourdes or from Lake Titicaca, the holy place of ancient Andean cultures. It's not altogether unthinkable, as the hydrologic cycle is a closed loop and what once might have been used in sacred ceremony may very well end up in your teacup. Driven by the sun, water continuously moves on, below and above the earth. Unfortunately, thanks to man-made pollutants, not all of the water molecules in our tea are healing or have been blessed.

Now, with an unsurpassed concentration of personal-care products and drugs in our city water systems, together with agricultural runoff, US municipalities are grappling with the challenge of filtering out these ubiquitous, unwelcome chemicals. Yes, synthetic and natural estrogens, antidepressants and painkillers—oh, and don't forget the caffeine—have been sneaking back into our drinking water. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals that interfere with the hormonal processes controlling the development of all living organisms are particularly troubling.

Benign by Design
The Europeans are going a step further to protect their water. While trying to filter out hazardous pharmaceuticals, they're also trying to prevent them from getting into the water in the first place. In Sweden, doctors have access to a database of about 1100 substances that are environmentally preferable—medications that are "benign by design." Surprisingly, the multinational pharmaceutical industry agreed to this voluntary classification system in Sweden and it is gaining momentum in other European countries.

Green chemistry, promoted by the EPA since the early 1990s, is the design of chemicals and processes without the production of hazardous substances, and it is a growth industry around the world. The twelve principles of green chemistry include measures like preventing waste, designing safer chemicals and products, and using renewable feed stocks.

One example of a green-chemistry triumph is the design and manufacture of ibuprofen. When it was first synthesized in the 1960s, the atomic structure of the drug was such that its manufacture required large amounts of a catalyst that had to be disposed of, usually in landfill sites. In the current green synthesis, hydrogen fluoride is used as a catalyst, and can be recovered and reused so that little or no waste is generated.

Catalyst for Cleanup
A revolutionary breakthrough in finding a way to remove pollutants from our water has been advanced by Professor Terry Collins and his research team at Carnegie Mellon University. They have shown that by way of an oxidation process using hydrogen peroxide instead of chlorine-based compounds, Fe-TAML activators can safely and inexpensively transform pollutants, including endocrine disruptors, to the benefit of both human and wildlife ecosystems.

This method is being evaluated for large-scale waste-water cleanup. To date, though, the federal government has failed to help industry transition to sustainable practices in pollution prevention. Collins says that new policies could drive the transformation of industrial chemicals, and prioritizing chemicals that should be replaced would be a first step.

What You Can Do
Everyone can take steps to safeguard their drinking water. If you live in a city or near agricultural operations, you may want to buy a water filter certified to remove contaminants. Also, by using only safe cosmetics and natural cleaning products—and asking your physician about benign pharmaceuticals—you can reduce water pollution at home. The Natural Resources Defense Council is a great resource for learning how to minimize your impact upon one of our most precious natural resources.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Write comment