Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Canadian Environment: Research and Policy Directions

Clearly, the state of the science in Canada and beyond is not yet sufficiently evolved to compare potential policy options or even begin to develop a risk management strategy. However, with this 3rd Canadian workshop, organizers wanted to begin to explore policy and management issues more generally, the rationale being that there is a growing body of research not only on the possible risks of PPCPs in the environment, but also on the removal efficiencies of various wastewater treatment technologies and a growing recognition for the potential role of other preventative options for source water protection. Further, although the science continues to emerge, public awareness of this issue is growing rapidly, and it seems prudent to start to identify a suite of potential options for responding to this issue, and to better communicate those options to decision-makers.

Information for this section is derived from the Workshop speakers, from the discussions that ensued at the Workshop, and from related publications. This section does not deal with the regulatory risk assessment process per se; that is, the assessment and evaluation of specific substances, towards eventual potential regulation of their use. For more information on the risk assessment process in Canada, the reader is directed to Section 3.4 of this report.

Options for Managing Environmental Exposure to PPCPs

• 5.1 Wastewater Treatment
• 5.2 Drinking Water Treatment
• 5.3 Source Control, Prudent Use, and Source Separation
• 5.4 Biosolids Management and Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs)