Full drinking water tests to be done throughout NZ for pharmaceuticals in drinking water nz
Sharna Butcher made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
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From: Sharna Butcher
Dear Ministry of Health,
To whom it may concern, all authorities and ministries regarding NZ drinking water, NZ drinking water testing, NZ pharmaceuticals in drinking water, The Ministry of Health, Local council boards, NZ water care testing services and suppliers.
Under legislation
Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand 2005 (Revised 2008)
The world health organisation (WHO) standards and also Ministry of Health. 2017. Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Management for New Zealand standards.
I demand water testing to be done on ALL NZ TOWN DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES for A FULL LIST OF ALL/ANY PHARMACEUTICALS FOUND IN NZ DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES.
You must communicate your decision to myself on whether to grant my request for official information ‘as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case not later than 20 working days’. The 20 working day count begins on the first working day after you receive my request.
Pharmaceuticals are synthetic or natural chemicals that can be found in prescription medicines, over-the-counter therapeutic drugs and veterinary drugs.
Pharmaceuticals contain active ingredients that have been designed to have pharmacological effects and confer significant benefits to society. The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment and the water cycle at trace levels (in the range of nanograms to low micrograms per litre) has been widely discussed and published in literature in the past Decade. The increase in detection is largely attributable to the advances in analytical techniques and instrumentation. Many surveys and studies have confirmed the presence of pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewater and effluents, and these have been identified as a major source of pharmaceuticals in drinking-water
Trace quantities of pharmaceuticals in drinking-water are very unlikely to pose risks to human health because of the substantial margin of exposure or margin of safety between the concentrations detected and the concentrations likely to evoke a
pharmacological effect.
Future research in these areas may be beneficial to better characterize potential health risks from long-term, low-level exposure to pharmaceuticals, particularly for sensitive subpopulations.
Yours faithfully,
Sharna Butcher
Ministry of Health
Kia ora Sharna
Thank you for your email. As required under the Official Information Act
1982, a request for information must be specified with due particularity.
Please clarify what information you are requesting.
Nga mihi
Alisha
OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [email address]
From: "Sharna Butcher"
<[FOI #10967 email]>
To: "OIA/LGOIMA requests at Ministry of Health"
<[Ministry of Health request email]>,
Date: 12/08/2019 05:56 p.m.
Subject: Official Information request - Full drinking water tests
to be done throughout NZ for pharmaceuticals in drinking water nz
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Dear Ministry of Health,
To whom it may concern, all authorities and ministries regarding NZ
drinking water, NZ drinking water testing, NZ pharmaceuticals in drinking
water, The Ministry of Health, Local council boards, NZ water care testing
services and suppliers.
Under legislation
Drinking-water Standards for New Zealand 2005 (Revised 2008)
The world health organisation (WHO) standards and also Ministry of Health.
2017. Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality Management for New Zealand
standards.
I demand water testing to be done on ALL NZ TOWN DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES
for A FULL LIST OF ALL/ANY PHARMACEUTICALS FOUND IN NZ DRINKING WATER
SUPPLIES.
You must communicate your decision to myself on whether to grant my
request for official information ‘as soon as reasonably practicable, and
in any case not later than 20 working days’. The 20 working day count
begins on the first working day after you receive my request.
Pharmaceuticals are synthetic or natural chemicals that can be found in
prescription medicines, over-the-counter therapeutic drugs and veterinary
drugs.
Pharmaceuticals contain active ingredients that have been designed to have
pharmacological effects and confer significant benefits to society. The
occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment and the water cycle at
trace levels (in the range of nanograms to low micrograms per litre) has
been widely discussed and published in literature in the past Decade. The
increase in detection is largely attributable to the advances in
analytical techniques and instrumentation. Many surveys and studies have
confirmed the presence of pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewater and
effluents, and these have been identified as a major source of
pharmaceuticals in drinking-water
Trace quantities of pharmaceuticals in drinking-water are very unlikely to
pose risks to human health because of the substantial margin of exposure
or margin of safety between the concentrations detected and the
concentrations likely to evoke a
pharmacological effect.
Future research in these areas may be beneficial to better characterize
potential health risks from long-term, low-level exposure to
pharmaceuticals, particularly for sensitive subpopulations.
Yours faithfully,
Sharna Butcher
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From: Sharna Butcher
Dear Ministry of Health,
Thank you for your email. My response to your email stating "a request for information must be specified with due particularity.
Please clarify what information you are requesting."
My response is As follows:
Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) includes antibiotics, anti-epileptic medications, heart medications, pain medications, and cancer medications generally used to treat symptoms rather than underlying disease. This category also covers veterinarian drugs and feed additives used for livestock.
As already stated I require ALL/ANY data on ALL/ANY DATA regarding pharmaceuticals found in public drinking water supplies from ALL REGIONS OF NZ.
*Has there been any tests done for traces or findings of pharmaceuticals in NZ public drinking water supplies?
*If so, were the tests done parts per trillion? And if so, were these test results made public? And if not made public - then why?
*Have there been to date any studies/research/tests done on the health effects from pharmaceuticals found in public drinking water in Aotearoa NZ?
*How do you monitor and measure the presence of these various (PhACs)and compounds in drinking water?
*Specifically, which compounds are you attempting to monitor?
*At what level?
*For what reason?
*Are wastewater treatment plants located upstream in surface water sources?
*Are you attempting to address regulations?
*What is your budget for monitoring and measuring?
*How do you intend to use the data you gather?
*What is the current regulatory status of (PhACs) in public drinking water supplies?
*Has documented and/or published findings on Human health risk assessment for pharmaceuticals in drinking-water been done?
*Noting that pharmaceuticals in drinking-water are an emerging issue, WHO will
continue to review relevant scientific evidence and, where necessary, update the
guidance provided in this report.
*Please list all treatment Options to remove Pharmaceuticals in the drinking water?
*Has anyone in Aotearoa NZ died due to the effects of pharmaceuticals in public drinking water in NZ?
And finally, can a updated/new full test analysis on pharmaceuticals in drinking water throughout NZ Nationwide be done please and all results published publicly.
Thank you for your time
Yours faithfully,
Sharna Butcher
Ministry of Health
Kia ora Sharna
Please find attached a letter regarding your request for official
information.
Nga mihi
OIA Services
Government Services
Office of the Director-General
Ministry of Health
E: [email address]
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Statement of confidentiality: This e-mail message and any accompanying
attachments may contain information that is IN-CONFIDENCE and subject to
legal privilege.
If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate,
distribute or copy this message or attachments.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
immediately and delete this message.
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