Emerging contaminants in the Great Lakes present a new threat to human and ecological health due to chal- lenges associated with tracking and understanding their impacts. The workshop presenters will discuss how large water and wastewater utilities approach the issue of emerging contaminants, highlight the challenges, and provide recommendations for future action. This presentation was given by Olga Lyandres, Research Manager, Alliance for the Great Lakes.

1. Priori%es
for
Protec%ng
the
Great
Lakes
against
Emerging
Chemical
Pollutants
Healing
Our
Waters
–
Great
Lakes
Restora5on
Conference
Milwaukee,
WI
September
11,
2013
Olga
Lyandres
Research
Manager
Olyandres@greatlakes.org

2. A
Community
that
Cares
for
the
Great
Lakes
Formed
in
1970,
the
Alliance
for
the
Great
Lakes
is
the
oldest
independent
Great
Lakes
ci5zens'
organiza5on
in
North
America.
Our
community
today
includes…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Individuals
Businesses
Elected
officials
Teachers
and
students
Environmental
advocates
Policy
leaders
Recrea5onal
enthusiasts
Civic
organiza5ons
The
Alliance
is
the
only
independent
policy
organiza5on
working
solely
to
improve
the
Great
Lakes
every
day.

3. The
Alliance
at
a
Glance
Mission
To
conserve
and
restore
the
world's
largest
freshwater
resource
using
policy,
educa5on
and
local
efforts,
ensuring
a
healthy
Great
Lakes
and
clean
water
for
genera5ons
of
people
and
wildlife.
Core
Issues
– Clean
water
– Sustainable
water
use
– Ecosystem
restora5on
– Emerging
threats
– Invasive
species
– Educa5on
– Civic
and
youth
par5cipa5on,
e.g.
Adopt-­‐
a-­‐Beach™

4. Public
Health
and
Environmental
Threats
• Endocrine
disrup5on
• Toxicity
of
metabolites
and
byproducts
• Resistant
bacteria
• Bioaccumula5on
in
aqua5c
food
webs
• Low-­‐level
chronic
exposure
• Synergis5c
effects
of
chemical
mixtures
Limited
informa%on
on
fate,
persistence,
epidemiological
and
ecological
effects,
for
mixtures
of
chemicals
and
their
byproducts

5. Clean
Water
and
Emerging
Contaminants
Alliance’s
goals
include:
– Curbing
unintended
drug
releases
into
the
environment
– Suppor5ng
further
research
and
monitoring
of
contaminants’
fate
and
impact
in
the
Great
Lakes
– Evalua5ng
methods
to
op5mize
removal
efficiencies
in
water
and
wastewater
treatment
systems
– Priori5zing
chemicals
of
concern
for
control
– Advoca5ng
for
comprehensive
chemical
management
reform

6. Great
Lakes
water
cycle:
mul5tude
of
point
and
diffuse
sources
•
The
Great
Lakes
and
their
tributaries
serve
as
receiving
waters
for
1,448
municipal
facili5es
discharging
4.8
billion
gallons
of
effluent
daily
and
2,393
industrial
facili5es
repor5ng
to
the
EPA’s
Toxic
Release
Inventory
•
85,000
chemicals
in
the
Toxic
Substance
Control
Act
inventory
• 20,000
registered
pes5cide
products
• 56,000
pharmaceu5cals
for
human
use
•
1,000
for
veterinary
use

7. Survey
of
water
u5li5es
in
the
Great
Lakes
basin
•
•
•
•
Developing
monitoring
programs
Characterizing
removal
efficiencies
Educa5ng
customers
Coordina5ng
with
one
another

8. Local
efforts
• Drinking
water
suppliers
–
voluntary
monitoring
of
hundreds
of
compounds
–
–
–
–
Milwaukee
Water
Works
City
of
Chicago,
Department
of
Water
Management
Central
Lake
County
Joint
Ac5on
Water
Agency
City
of
Wyoming,
Water
U5lity
• Wastewater
Treatment
facili5es
–
monitoring
of
receiving
waters
and
wildlife,
treatment
op5miza5on
– Metropolitan
Water
Reclama5on
District
of
Greater
Chicago
– Milwaukee
Metropolitan
Sewer
District
– City
of
Wyoming,
Wastewater
U5lity

9. Priori5za5on
of
chemicals
of
concern
Kumar,
A.,
Xagoraraki,
I.,
2010.
Pharmaceu5cals,
personal
care
products
and
endocrine-­‐disrup5ng
chemicals
in
U.S.
surface
and
finished
drinking
waters:
A
proposed
ranking
system.
Science
of
The
Total
Environment
408,
5972–5989.

10. Top
20
ranked
chemicals
of
emerging
concern

11. Conclusions
•
Priori5za5on
is
necessary
to
address
chemicals
of
emerging
concern
•
Ongoing
research
needed
to
understand
environmental
fate
and
effects
•
Interim
control
strategies
– Water
treatment
– Collabora5on
among
water
u5li5es
– Proper
disposal
•
Long
term
control
strategies
– Pollu5on
preven5on
approach
– Behavior
change

12. Contact
Us
www.greatlakes.org
Email
us:
Olyandres@greatlakes.org
Call
us:
1-­‐312-­‐445-­‐9749
Photo
by
David
Riecks