November 29th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The most common poisons that threaten our beloved pets are our own medicines—ibuprofen, acetaminophen, antidepressants, and ADHD medications. Any medication, even those prescribed for a pet, can pose a risk to dogs or cats who decide to eat what they find.
For this reason and more, the National Sea Grant College Program and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) have forged a formal partnership to raise awareness about the need for proper storage and disposal of unused medicines.
Pets, of course, are not the only victims of accidental poisonings. The Journal of Pediatrics recently reported that between the years 2001-2008, more than 430,000 children five years or younger were brought to emergency rooms due to self-ingested medicines. And, in the larger picture, drug-related deaths now outnumber motor vehicle fatalities, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
What’s more, pharmaceuticals are turning up in the environment. “Medicine disposal has become an emerging issue as numerous studies have found pharmaceuticals in drinking water and in lakes and rivers,” said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention specialist. “The long term impacts are not known, but it’s clear that flushing medicines or throwing them in the trash contributes to the problem.”
“We are excited about this collaborative effort involving the AVMA and NOAA‘s National Sea Grant College Program,” said Mike Liffmann, Extension leader for the National Sea Grant Office. “Our Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant colleagues will, on behalf of the National Sea Grant College Program, lead this joint outreach and education effort aimed at ensuring that leftover or unused medications for animals are disposed of properly so they cannot harm people, the animals or the environment.”
For the past six years, IISG has worked with communities to develop local medicine collection programs. Through workshops and the IISG toolkit, the program provides information and support so that these efforts are safe and successful.
Now, alongside the AVMA, the information campaign can grow to encompass new audiences, including animal owners who, along with many in the general public, may need to dispose of unused and expired medicine.
“By increasing the general public’s awareness of options available to them for the proper disposal of pharmaceuticals and the environmental consequences of improper disposal, it is hoped and anticipated that fewer and fewer medications will flushed or poured into our waters,” said Kristi Henderson, AVMA assistant director of scientific activities.
For more information about medicine collection programs, visit unwantedmeds.org. There, you can download the toolkit Disposal of Unwanted Medicines: A Resource for Action in Your Community.
November 28th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From NBC Chicago:
Scientists dumped a red dye “tracer” into the river between Route 83 and the Lockport area beginning late Tuesday night to study Asian carp and other species migrating to Lake Michigan.
Read more.
November 16th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From WTTW Chicago:
Scientists believe the Quagga mussel first stowed away in the ballast water on transoceanic ships from the Caspian Sea. The mussels made their way into the lakes when that ballast water was purged.
The tiny fingernail-sized mussels closely related to another invasive, known as the Zebra mussel, first appeared in lake waters here in 1988.
The Quagga mussel is now the most pervasive and destructive invasive species ever to enter the Great Lakes. Over the last 15 years, the Quagga population has exploded, eclipsing the Zebra mussel and infecting all five of the Great Lakes. Read more.
November 7th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The National Sea Grant Academy was established to provide continuing education for Sea Grant Extension faculty, to give a national perspective on the role and importance of each Sea Grant program, and to further the work of studying, improving, and protecting America’s waterways.
In March 2011, IISG specialists Paris Collingsworth, Carolyn Foley, Laura Kammin, Caitie McCoy and Kristin TePas attended the first half of the 3rd National Sea Grant Academy in Washington, D.C. This week-long training event gave participants the opportunity to interact with other Sea Grant staff from around the globe, learn how to better design their projects, and begin to understand the inner workings of the National Sea Grant Program Office.
During the week of October 23-29, 2011, Carolyn, Laura and Caitie attended the second week’s events in Portland, Oregon. These sessions offered information on how to plan projects aimed at achieving meaningful outcomes, and solidified the connections made during the first week’s sessions by allowing participants to share their thoughts, experiences, and resources with other Sea Grant specialists. During the week, participants had the opportunity to learn about and be inspired by the work being done by other Sea Grant programs around the country, especially in the host state of Oregon.
These recent graduates of Sea Grant Academy are looking forward to using the skills and connections made during these two training weeks as they work to create interesting, useful programs in the Great Lakes region and beyond.
October 25th, 2011 by Irene Miles
From the Great Lakes Echo:
Scientists are in Washington D.C. today to present to federal lawmakers research suggesting the Great Lakes region has more problems with mercury than previously thought.
Their visit comes just weeks after the GOP-led House of Representative passed two bills that would handcuff the EPA from limiting mercury emissions.
As Echo reported, scientists reviewed research on mercury in the Great Lakes region and found despite overall decreases in the pollutant, concentrations are rising in some species and health risks are occurring at lower levels than expected. Read more.
October 12th, 2011 by Irene Miles
A blog post from the Metropolitan Planning Council:
About 200 reports are now released annually about low levels of chemicals, such as drugs, detergents and plastics, in our waterways. As products, these compounds are beneficial (I am grateful that my office mates use soap.) Some of them, like heart meds, are even life-saving. The problem begins once we are done using them — when they are flushed (one way or another) down the toilet or swept away in stormwater, and flow into our streams and lakes. Because, especially in areas like the Fox River Basin, that is also our drinking water. We know that some of these chemicals, at certain levels, can disrupt our endocrine system, causing a host of health problems, ranging from infertility to cancer. But, is there enough in our water to make us sick?
To try to answer that, on Sept. 15th, Openlands and MPC held “Emerging Contaminants, Emerging Solutions,” our latest roundtable on the region’s water challenges (listen to the audio recording, courtesy of Chicago Amplified). Almost 80 people from through the region convened in Elgin to hear about known (and unknown) risks, and possible methods to prevent or reduce contamination. The audience had the opportunity to ask national experts about cutting-edge scientific findings on the issue. Read more.
September 23rd, 2011 by Irene Miles
From the CBC:
The Great Lakes have faced various threats for years, from industrial pollution to invasive species, but another challenge worries many researchers these days — the emerging chemical threat.
It’s not just pesticides, as scientists are finding worrying levels of pharmaceutically active compounds such as anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, anti-epileptics, and beta blockers in lake water. As well, hormones, pesticides and alkylphenols have been identified as threats. Read more.
September 9th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The Clean Water Celebration 2011 in Gary, Indiana on Saturday, September 3 offered an opportunity for IISG’s Leslie Dorworth and Carolyn Foley to talk with visitors about what they can do to reduce unwanted inputs into waterways. However, this was not a dry lesson–learning took place by playing the Watershed Game, which was developed by Northland NEMO, Minnesota Sea Grant, and University of Minnesota Extension. In this game, participants apply plans, practices, and policies that help them achieve a water quality goal for a stream, lake, or river.
People of all ages joined in to play the game. They chose best management practices to employ in different landscapes (farmland, city, residential, or parks and open space areas) to help reduce phosphorus inputs into a fictional lake.
This was the seventh annual event, which took place in Marquette Park. In addition to fun, the focus of the Clean Water Celebration is water sports safety and protecting water quality.
September 7th, 2011 by Irene Miles
The residents around Lincoln Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin have always used their expansive park to its fullest. It is intersected by Lincoln Creek and the Milwaukee River, which provides an opportunity for fishing and other activities. It also has a golf course, picnic areas, a water park, and trails for walking, biking and cross country skiing.
So when it was announced that contaminated sediment in a section of the river in the park was going to be cleaned up through the Great Lakes Legacy Act, local residents had many questions—they wanted to understand what was going to be happening in their park.
IISG, working with all the project partners (U.S. EPA, Wisconsin DNR, Milwaukee County Parks, Milwaukee County, University of Wisconsin Extension, Department of Health Services – State of Wisconsin, the City of Milwaukee and its Health Department, North Shore Health Department, the Area of Concern Community Action Group, and local representatives) developed a plan to ensure the community was part of the process and they had ample opportunities to learn about what was taking place and why.
This process began with a series of town hall meetings where U.S. EPA and the State of Wisconsin provided a description of the project through presentations, posters and one-on-one discussion. The questions from the community were gathered and combined into a document and responses were provided both in written form and at a second meeting.
In an effort to ensure that anyone visiting the park would have an opportunity to learn about the project, the team developed a series of three signs or kiosks. Each has a different focus:
- The Department of Health Services is providing clear guidance on contaminants in local fish–which ones are safe to eat and how often. This sign includes some simple safety tips during the project construction.
- The U.S. EPA Areas of Concern (AOC) kiosk describes all the clean-up projects going on within the Milwaukee region to link this project to the larger goal of delisting the AOC. This kiosk provides direction for cleaning up after your pet and the potential impacts of pet waste to the waterway in its “Pick up your pet waste–it’s your doodie” campaign.
- The Great Lakes Legacy Act kiosk provides specifics about this project including the activities that will occur, a timeline, and a weekly update. A dump truck that fills up over time will illustrate progress of the project.
There are two sets of kiosks in the park – one along a well-used bike path and a second near the picnic area. The signs were designed so that at the end of the project, they can be repurposed for other topics, used in other parks, and for other outreach activities.
