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With ever more sensitive tests, it’s now possible to find tiny amounts of worrisome chemicals in water supplies just about anywhere. But do those trace amounts pose a human health hazard?
Endocrine disruptors are one sizable group of what the EPA calls “non regulated compounds. There’s an even larger group often labeled PPCP, which stands for pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Snyder says combining them is chemically inappropriate.
One often-overlooked aspect of providing clean water is not just what it costs, but which factors contribute to that overall expense. Dr. Snyder observes that cleaning up wastewater is a relatively small piece of the total.
Dr. Shane Snyder was the R&D Project Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) for nearly a decade, and has published more than 80 manuscripts on the occurrence and fate of organic contaminants in water. In 1998, he was credited with the first discovery of natural and synthetic estrogens in North American waters.
Dr. Snyder also linked the occurrence of steroids in wastewater to potential endocrine impacts in fish in the late 1990’s. Dr. Snyder was one of six experts to testify before the U.S. Senate regarding pharmaceuticals in U.S. waters in April of 2008. In 2009, Dr. Snyder’s research team published the first national survey of pharmaceuticals in U.S. drinking water. He is also is the co-founder and vice president of Total Environmental Solutions, a company offering consulting and laboratory services to a diversity of government, municipal, and private sector clients.
