Un Petit Pois

Shampoo in the water supply triggers growth of deadly drug-resistant bugs

“Fabric softeners, disinfectants, shampoos and other household products are spreading drug-resistant bacteria around Britain, scientists have warned. Detergents used in factories and mills are also increasing the odds that some medicines will no longer be able to combat dangerous diseases.

In their study, the scientists looked at quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) that are used in many household cleaning goods. Every day, huge volumes of these chemicals are flushed from homes and factories into sewers and rivers. In high concentrations, QACs kill bacteria. However, in sewage, these chemicals become diluted and bacteria have evolved resistance to them.

“The inference is clear,” added Gaze. “We are producing sewage and river water that have more and more drug-resistant bacteria in them and that these are now poised to enter the food chain.”

Wellington added: “Once they are in the land, these bacteria will get into the bodies of agricultural workers or people who use the land recreationally and will form reservoirs of drug-resistant microbes that could pose all sorts of problems. This is going to need a great deal of monitoring.”“

March 31, 2009, 9:46am

Toxic Emissions Fell in 2007, E.P.A. Says

“The volume of toxic chemicals that were released into the environment or sent for disposal in 2007 dropped 5 percent compared with 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday. But concealed within the overall numbers was good and bad news.

For example, the volume of released or disposed “persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals,” substances like lead, dioxin, mercury and PCBs, was up slightly, the agency said. Most of those releases were not to air or water, the agency said, meaning that the material was mostly buried in landfills, injected into deep wells or held in impoundments.

The material released or disposed of in 2007 came to almost 4.1 billion pounds. More than 20 billion pounds, about five times as much material, was recycled, treated to render it nontoxic or burned for energy, the agency said.”

March 23, 2009, 10:30pm