Staff writer

sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com

The state will resample Pennsylvania's waterways, including the Monongahela River, to test for the presence of trace amounts of narcotics, hormones and antibiotics.

The resampling is the second phase of a project launched in 2006 by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the first of which found trace amounts of a variety of drugs and compounds in drinking water supplies.

"What's emerging is the technology that can detect prescriptions, hormones and antibiotics the equivalent of a grain of salt inside an Olympic-size swimming pool," DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said.

The announcement follows an investigation by the Associated Press that discovered a vast array of pharmaceuticals, in trace amounts, in the drinking water supplies of more than 41 million Americans in 24 major cities from California to New Jersey. The drugs include mood stabilizers, antibiotics, sex hormones and anti-convulsants. The drinking supplies are considered safe by water suppliers.

The DEP contends some of the drugs ended up in public water supplies because people flushed unused drugs down the toilet.

Additionally, drug residue ends up flushed down toilets and sent to wastewater treatments plants that discharge into rivers and streams.

Most water treatments do not remove drug residue, the AP found. The federal government, meanwhile, does not require testing for prescription drugs in public water, or their treatment.

Humphreys said she suspects that the results of the second round of testing will require the need for more studies.

The samples will be drawn within three miles of water supply intakes at 27 streams, lakes and rivers in the state, including 11 in the Ohio River watershed.

In Washington County, samples will be drawn from the Mon in North Charleroi, where water supplies are used for the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Charleroi. Other samples will be drawn from the Cheat River in Point Marion and the Yough-iogheny River in Connellsville.

"It's very sophisticated testing," Humphreys said. "We now have the tools with which to conduct this study."

The results of the testing also may require utilities to perform additional treatment of their supplies to remove drugs.

"We're just beginning to answer these questions," Humphreys said.

The initial findings that revealed trace amounts of 56 compounds in water supplies serve as a reminder, she said, that "it's always easier and cheaper to not contaminate the water than it is to remove the contamination."

She urged people to dispose of their unused drugs in the garbage rather than flush them down toilets.

"If you have a liquid cold syrup with codeine, pour it into some kitty litter."

Such narcotics as OxyContin can be mashed, placed in a container of water and allowed to dry before being thrown away to prevent their misuse, she added.

"These are serious drugs," she said.

In a separate, related study, the DEP will test fish, including white suckers and smallmouth bass, to see if males are producing eggs in their testes.

"We're looking to see, have some idea of the rate of the problem and quantify the problem in some measure," Hum-phreys said.

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