03/16/2008

By GENE JOHNSON  / Associated Press

Pharmaceuticals in the water supply, melamine in the pet food, a warning against giving young children cough medicine.

As 7,000 scientists and regulators from 45 countries gather in Seattle this week, those are some of the top issues on the agenda, along with contamination in Puget Sound and an examination of whether early puberty in girls — possibly caused by certain chemicals — is linked to breast cancer later on.

"The public has a right to know the answers to these questions," Dr. George Corcoran, president of the Society of Toxicology, said this weekend. "Our vision is to create a safer and healthier world by advancing the science of toxicology. That's our reason for living."

The society, based in Reston, Va., is holding its annual meeting at the Washington State Convention Center, one week after The Associated Press published an investigation that found tiny amounts of drugs — mostly residue excreted by people and flushed down the toilet — in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

In addition to documenting the drugs found, the report discussed how little is known about whether there are long-term effects from having pharmaceuticals in the water supply. That's where toxicology comes in: the study of adverse effects of chemical, physical or biological agents on living organisms and the ecosystem.

Scientists have known for several years that pharmaceuticals were entering the water, Corcoran said, and the Society of Toxicology found the issue important enough to discuss it at its annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C., last year. But publicity surrounding the AP's report — the governor of Illinois ordered waterways in that state screened for drugs, newspapers called for more rigorous testing, and U.S. senators prepared to hold hearings — has created a buzz for this year's meeting.

"Last year, there was a consensus: Yes, we need to do more on this, and this is something we have to watch," Corcoran said. "The AP story has really put the spotlight on it, and it is going to lead to a pickup in the pace. People are going to start putting money into studying this now, instead of a few years from now, and we'll get the answers sooner than we would have otherwise."

The session on the topic is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon and will be led by Daniel Caldwell, of Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, N.J., and Hal Zenick from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

The annual meeting features about 200 sessions, as-yet-unpublished studies, and two Nobel laureates — Dr. Lee Hartwell, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and the English chemist Sir John Walker. Among the other topics being covered:

_Children's cough and cold medicines: The FDA has declared over-the-counter cough and cold medicines too risky for children under 2, and the agency's advisers voted that the drugs don't work in small children and shouldn't be given to anyone under age 6. That news raised questions about the use of incomplete data in making risk-benefit analyses.

_Findings from the investigation into last year's pet food scare, in which the toxic chemical melamine was found in pet food imported from China. Thousands of dogs and cats died, and two Chinese businesses and a U.S. company were later indicted.

_A look at potential link between chemicals used in plastics, such as phthalates, and puberty in girls as young as 9 years old — and whether that is also connected to breast cancer.

_How toxicological studies can be used to identify the greatest threats to Puget Sound.

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On the Net:

Society of Toxicology: http://www.toxicology.org