Innocuous Acts That Can Pollute

Stockton Record, Alex Breitler
Published July 18, 2007

Every time you brush your teeth, scrub with antibacterial soap or wash a load of laundry, you may be sending hormone-disrupting chemicals into the environment. Such innocuous acts may harm the reproductive functions of fish, frogs and even humans, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group and the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Instead of looking to wastewater treatment plants to keep these chemicals out of water bodies such as the Delta, the two groups are calling for the public to be more vigilant about products they may spit, wash or pour down the drain, or others that might somehow come in contact with water. "With new detection technology, there are so many new chemicals that are showing up in wastewater," said Bill Walker of the Environ-mental Working Group. "If we continue trying to upgrade (wastewater plants), we'd be spending billions and billions of dollars a year. "It just makes sense to go back to the source." The study focused on three chemicals found in wastewater discharges from homes, laundries, medical centers, industrial facilities and a nail salon into San Francisco Bay. It does not document any harmful effect on fish and wildlife there. Nor does it address chemical releases into the neighboring Delta. But similar conditions are possible here. Several San Joaquin County communities release treated wastewater into the estuary, which already is plagued with a number of toxins. Upgrading treatment plants to catch more chemicals would be complicated and costly, said Stockton Municipal Utilities Deputy Director Bob Granberg. The city of Tracy last year considered upgrading to reverse osmosis, an advanced method, but the $100 million price proved too much. Across the country, scientists are learning more about the prevalence of chemicals in lakes and streams. A 2002 study of 139 streams showed 80 percent were contaminated. Some of the chemicals are not regulated and are untested, the newest study says. So in addition to asking for the public's health, officials want the government to step in as well. "How much wiser would it be if we made sure chemicals are safe for kids before allowing them into consumer products?" Walker said. Said Stockton environmentalist Bill Jennings: "We're not just changing the chemistry of the planet. We're changing the chemistry of our bodies." Not all of the products mentioned in the new study are those you'd think had potential to get into the wastewater system. But hard plastic bottles, for example, could leach chemicals when they're rinsed in the sink; plastic lawn chairs left on the patio could do the same in a rainstorm. "Almost any contact you have with water, you have the potential for the substance to leach out and drain away," Walker said. Once established in fish, contaminants pose a threat to humans who eat them, he said.