Emerging Issues Conference

June 7-8, 2000, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sponsored By: National Ground Water Association US EPA National Risk Management Laboratory USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program Wessex Institute of Technology, United Kingdom

Topics:

Pharmaceuticals in Water

Certain pharmaceuticals are showing up in waste streams. This session will examine the issues surrounding treated municipal waste water, septic tanks, and other effluent sources containing excreted drugs such as antibiotics, analgesics, chemotherapy drugs, cholesterol-lowering clofiric acid and the host of other pharmaceutical compounds which are currently unregulated by primary and secondary drinking water standards. Are trace amounts of these compounds present in tap water? What are the ecological implications? Is there a correlation to pharmaceuticals in the environment and antibiotic resistant strains of microbes?

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Water

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC's) have been defined as exogenous agents that interfere with production, release, transport, metabolism, binding, action, or elimination of the natural hormones in the body responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis and the regulation of developmental processes. The literature on wildlife reports changes in sex steroids in fish, abnormal reproductive development in alligators, birth defects in Lake Michigan cormorants, all from EDC's, either natural such as estrogen or man made such as organochlorines like DDT and PCB's. Examine the issues surrounding hormones and compounds that mimic the effects of hormones in water, the ecology, and human health.

Pesticides in Water

Ever since the problems surrounding DDT, pesticides have been a water quality issue. What do low concentrations of a variety of pesticide compounds mean to human and ecological health? Can certain faunal mutations such as the famous three legged frogs in Minnesota be attributed to pesticides or are natural factors at work? Examine the treatment options for drinking water.

Sub-categories under these 3 topics include:

• Human Health
• Ecological Health
• Analysis and Testing
• Fate and Transport
• Sources
• Compounds of Concern
• Possible Solutions

Regulatory Issues and Water

The ways in which water is regulated is a major shaping force on society. This session examines some of the emerging issues surrounding water law, how government is dealing with hundreds of unregulated new chemicals, source water protection, and consumer's rights to know what they are drinking. As a result of fresh water shortages, some states with long histories of Riparian Water Law are evolving more toward First Appropriation Water Law. Will the states own all the water in the future?

Sub-categories:

• Governmental Management of Water Use
• Unregulated Chemicals
• Arsenic and Radon Standards
• Consumer Right to Know Impacts
• Comprehensive Water Supply Planning
• Water Law