"When I started out in nursing almost 30 years ago, policy at hospitals was to waste partial doses of narcotics in the sharps containers," Deesy said.
As a contract nurse, she has worked "for just about every hospital within two hours of my home."
"To date, scientists have found no evidence of harmful effects to human health from medicines in the environment," the FDA website says.
For this reason, hospitals and hospital pharmacies have strict regulations that require nurses to document each use of a controlled substance, according to Payne.
A 2011 Government Accountability Office report on environmental health reads, "pharmaceuticals may enter the environment and ultimately drinking water supplies in various ways, such as through the elimination of human and animal waste, disposal of unused medicines down the toilet or drain, veterinary drug usage, hospital waste disposal, and industrial discharges."
And it’s not just one drug, say, one particular antidepressant.
As a result, pharmaceuticals have been listed as "contaminants of emerging concern" by the EPA.
Constable believes that "the question of mixtures is what has people in the EPA most concerned."
Focazio said the US Geological Survey has started looking more recently not just at what can be detected but at "what does it mean from a health standpoint."
"We don’t need to be destroying our water," Deesy said.

Another batch of settlement checks for people affected by the 2014 Kanawha Valley water crisis are going in the mail.
On Monday, lawyers for businesses and residents affected by the crisis asked that the portion of the Initial Contingent Fund Contribution for uncontested Individual Review Option claims be approved.
In an order Wednesday evening, U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver approved the distribution of 1,524 individual review option claims totaling $2,885,151.
Of the 1,524 claims, 1,154 are pregnancy individual review claims.
There were 362 wage earner individual review claims, seven residential individual review claims and one business individual review claim.
Those people will receive their checks in seven days, said Anthony Majestro, a lawyer for the residents affected by the 2014 chemical spill.
The class-action lawsuit stemmed from the Kanawha Valley water crisis, which contaminated water for about 300,000 West Virginians.
The lawsuit said West Virginia American Water didn’t react properly to the Crude MCHM, which spilled from a storage tank at Freedom Industries into the Elk River in 2014.
The lawsuit doesn’t directly involve Freedom Industries, but says Eastman Chemical didn’t do enough to warn Freedom Industries of the chemical’s danger.
The next round of checks will include government claims, business claims and medical claims, Majestro said.

Following reports of skin diseases being contracted by the river, folks of Western Province post-February 2018’s quake, a Dutch expert has analysed some samples of the river and has found there to be no serious poisonous contaminants.
United Nations water specialist Reve van den Hoven conducted a thorough analysis of various water sources in parts of North, Middle and South Fly in Western Province early in 2018 and came up with findings that pointed to the water being mostly muddy.
The initial samples taken by the UN expert were to ascertain whether the rivers and waterways had a high toxicity levels that would render the water sources and rivers dangerous to human and animal life.
After a few tests, it was brought to light that the rivers and waterways in the province were mostly a lot thicker due to the tremendous amount of soil and debris that entered the tributaries when the earthquake brought down large chunks of mountains on Feb 26.
Even more so, Mr Reve van den Hoven said that while there were no major pollutants in the water, the mud itself had caused the rivers to turn into thick slushy goo that destroyed the oxygen content in the water thus suffocating whatever fish life was present prior to the quake induced landslips.
Now a year later, villagers from the affected areas remain adamant that their fish life has not returned to normalcy and sickness from water remains a serious issue.
Senior high school teacher from North Fly’s Nomad village James Kuro said yesterday that even though the New Year was a time to be happy, most of the people in Western Province remained troubled by the water contamination that they report to be still present.
Mr Kuro said that it was vital that a new team of water specialist and assessors return to parts of North and South Fly and test the waterways and tributaries.
“Even a year later, our people are still becoming ill from the intake of contaminated water.
“We need a new assessment team to come in the New Year and assure us that our water and fish will return to normal levels and standards,” said the senior teacher.

New Delhi, Dec 31 Over 15,000 habitations have been affected due to water contaminated by Arsenic and 400 by Uranium, the Rajya Sabha was informed Monday.
Minister of State for drinking water and sanitation Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi said out of 15,804 habitations affected due to water contaminated by Arsenic, as many as 9,250 habitations were found in West Bengal and 4,320 in Assam.
Over 400 habitations have been affected with water contaminated with Uranium, he said.
Calling rural drinking water supply a state subject, Jigajinagi said the state governments have to plan, design, approve, execute, operate and maintain the schemes for providing safe drinking water to rural population.
"The funds provided to states under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) can be utilised for providing safe drinking water to water quality affected population of the country," he said.
In reply to a separate question, he said 330 districts across the country have been affected by water contaminated by Arsenic, Fluoride, Iron, Salinity, Nitrate and heavy metal.
UZM DPB

It will be at least a few days before users of the Vavenby Community Water System know if they can again use the the water.
A semi-truck crashed into the North Thompson River 31 kilometres north of Vavenby, causing diesel fuel to leak into the river upstream of the community, which is about one hour and 40 minutes north of Kamloops on Highway 5 North.
Testing and analysis of the water system will occur over the next couple of days and the TNRD expects to be able to announce the results late either Thursday or early Friday.
TNRD Electoral Area A director Carol Schaffer told KTW once the truck is removed from the river, the Ministry of Environment will begin testing.
How much fuel leaked into the river won’t be known until the truck is recovered.
The vehicle was hauling meat, she said.
All water users are advised to use bottled water or an alternate source of water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, bathing and food preparation until further notice.
Residents who draw their water from the system should check for signs of diesel fuel, such as a sheen or fuel odour.
It will be available at the Vavenby Fire Department daily between the hours of 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. until further notice.
Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell told KTW his community — located downstream of Vavenby — is not impacted by the spill as the town doesn’t draw its water from the North Thompson River.

ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — People in Robinson Township are being told by state officials that their water is contaminated with PFAS.
Ottawa County officials recently posted the latest numbers from testing done around 120th Avenue in Robinson Township, southeast of Grand Haven.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality tested 37 wells in the area — 17 of them came back clean.
But PFAS was found in 20 of them.
In one case, the likely carcinogen was found at more than 100 parts per trillion — well above the state safety standard of 70 parts per trillion.
The Grand Haven Tribune spoke to the Fett family, who own the well.
They say they are shocked and frustrated with the results.
The Fetts raise horses, and even though the state is offering to hook them up with a filter for their kitchen sink, they say it won’t help when it comes to their animals.
This round of testing was sparked after PFAS was found at nearby Robinson Elementary School.
State health officials are still looking into the source of the contamination.

We’re following the latest on a water lawsuit filed by the city of Tucson and town of Marana to protect the public from potentially negative health effects from the groundwater supply.
The lawsuit alleges 3M, a company that manufactures firefighting foam used at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, contaminated parts of the water supply in Tucson and Marana.
3M, the company the city of Tucson and Marana is suing just settled a similar water lawsuit in Minnesota for $850 million dollars.
It’s building treatment plants to go and clean up the problem that we have now and it’s also paying for maintenance for those treatment plants going forward,” Steve Kozachik Ward 6 Councilman said.
In 2017, two wells near the Davis-Monthan Air Force base were closed down.
The town of Marana also teaming up on the lawsuit had two areas in marana tested for those contaminants.
“We’ve filed a notice to intend to litigate.
Kozachik says he’s hoping the lawsuit will be settled out of court.
“Instead of having to go to court 3M does what they did in Minnesota.
That they are putting into the water supply and instead of having to litigate that they’ll settle out of court,” Kozachik said.

"The Catalpa project is the first big new feedlot application we’ve had in Fillmore County since extensive data on nitrate contamination of drinking water wells has come out," Stine said in a statement in the release, which goes on to say the issue is bigger than any one feedlot or farm, and that it would be unfair to place responsibility for the "broad issue of existing nitrate contamination of groundwater onto one farmer."
The proposed 4,890-head swine facility was to be located 10 miles east of Harmony in Newburg Township.
MPCA officials have said it would have generated an estimated 7.3 million gallons of liquid manure annually that would have been stored in reinforced concrete pits below the barns.
However, a release then said two parties reviewing the report – a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources geophysicist and a retired earth sciences professor – submitted comments that "differ with the consultant’s methods and interpretations."
After deciding on additional investigation, and needing more time to respond to 771 comment letters, the MPCA delayed a decision on an Environmental Impact Statement for the proposal.
However, a release Tuesday stated that because the permit has now been denied, a decision on whether to deny or approve requests for an EIS for the project is not needed at this time.
The release said more than 700 people attended the two public meetings held on the proposal in June and earlier this month.
The owner of the feedlot, Al Hein, tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS he will apply for the individual permit.
Al Hein is the owner.
KSTP regrets the error.

seek to previous 12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60% TOWN AND COUNTRY, Mo.
(KMOV.com) – A West County hotel where a preliminary test came back positive for Legionnaires’ Disease has reopened Sunday.
The preliminary testing results are in connection with two cases of the disease.
Missouri health officials are issuing concerns about the St. Louis Marriott West Hotel in Town and Country, which is located near I-64 and Highway 141.
Officials have conducted cultured tests at the hotel but are still waiting on the results.
As a precaution, the hotel says it will temporarily close on Saturday at noon so that the water systems can be flushed and disinfected.
One guest said the hotel is not informing guests about the situation unless someone specifically asks.
Health officials say that as right now, the hotel is not legally required to notify guests about the preliminary test results.
The process, which took three hours, is a recommended measure to sanitize water systems.
In addition, the hotel said any guest who has stayed there within the last 14 days who develops symptoms of pneumonia should seek medical attention.

Jalandhar Residents highlight woes, say untreated drains claiming lives Jalandhar, December 23 Teams of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday visited several villages in the district which are affected by water pollution.
Led by NGT’s supervisory committee member Chander Babu, the team members visited the Kala Sanghian drain and the Chitti Bein.
While environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal had recently raised the issue of pollution in the drain, he had also written to the NGT on the defunct sewage treatment plants across the state which were adding to untreated water and creating pollution in the state.
Chief engineer GS Majithia and senior environmental engineer Harbir Singh were also present on the occasion.
Villagers living on the banks of the Kala Sanghian drain gave a long declaration to the NGT.
Detailing their experiences, they said they could not go to any other village now.
They complained that they were facing troubles in marrying their children as no one wanted to marry their kin in a village which was affected by diseases.
They said a large number of people in the villages were dying of cancer and hepatitis.
The teams visited Chamiara, Gazipur, Athaula, Balerkhanpur, Gurdwara Tahli Sahib, Fatehpur and Nawa Pind Khalewal villages.
Residents of Nawa Pind Khalewal said there had been over 10 deaths in the village due to cancer.