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Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management — Volume 11, Number 3—pp. 514–519 © 2015 SETAC

Learned Discourses: Timely Scientific Opinions

Learned Discourse: Timely Scientific Opinions

Timely Scientific Opinions Intent. The intent of Learned Discourses is to provide a forum for open discussion. These articles reflect the professional opinions of the authors regarding scientific issues. They do not represent SETAC positions or policies. And, although they are subject to editorial review for clarity, consistency, and brevity, these articles are not peer reviewed. The Learned Discourses date from 1996 in the North America SETAC News and, when that publication was replaced by the SETAC Globe, continued there through 2005. The continued success of Learned Discourses depends on our contributors. We encourage timely submissions that will inform and stimulate discussion. We expect that many of the articles will address controversial topics, and promise to give dissenting opinions a chance to be heard. Rules. All submissions must be succinct: no longer than 1000 words, no more than 6 references, and at most one table or figure. Reference format must follow the journal requirement found on the Internet at http://www. setacjournals.org. Topics must fall within IEAM’s sphere of interest. Submissions. All manuscripts should be sent via email as Word attachments to Peter M Chapman ([email protected]).

Learned Discourses Editor Peter M. Chapman Chapema Environmental Strategies Ltd. 1324 West 22nd Avenue North Vancouver, BC V7P2G4 [email protected]

SETAC’s Learned Discourses appearing in the first 7 volumes of the SETAC Globe Newsletter (1999–2005) are available to members online at http://communities.setac.net. Members can log in with last name and SETAC member number to access the Learned Discourse Archive.

UNCERTAINTY IN HEALTH CANADA'S DRINKING WATER AESTHETIC CLASSIFICATIONS Tasha Hall*y and Timothy J Barretty yGolder Associates, Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada *[email protected] DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1651

Aesthetic classifications for total dissolved solids (TDS) in drinking water reported in Health Canada (1979) are based on a review article on the human perception and evaluation of water quality (Bruvold et al. 1975). Bruvold et al. (1975) defined 5 taste classifications: A ¼ excellent, B ¼ good, C ¼ fair, D ¼ poor, and F ¼ unacceptable. The upper end of the classifications comprised TDS concentrations (rounded) of A ¼ 300 mg/L, B ¼ 600 mg/L, C ¼ 900 mg/L, and D ¼ 1200 mg/L. These upper ends of the classifications were calculated based on a study conducted by Bruvold and Ongerth (1969). That study was conducted using water samples from 29 community water systems selected throughout the state of California. The TDS concentrations of the 29 water sources ranged from 53 mg/L to 2236 mg/L. Concentrations of TDS and the primary constituent ions of TDS were reported for each water source.

In a Nutshell… Human Health Uncertainty in Health Canada’s Drinking Water Aesthetic Classifications, by Tasha Hall and Timothy J Barrett In the 1960s twenty employees of the State of California Department of Public Health took part in randomized taste tests of 29 California water samples. Monte Carlo Based Distance Analysis Using Unit Mass Resolution ICP-MS Data for Shellfish Site of Origin Verification, by Joseph F Mudge, Marc E Engel, Caitlin N Ryan, and David M Klein A fast, easy, and accessible method for identifying where shellfish have been harvested, to protect fisheries from overharvesting and to protect consumers from biological and chemical food borne illnesses. Communication Internet-Based Platforms for Science Communication, by Sarah Bowman and Jared Bozich Internet-based informal science communication platforms can educate a broad demographic, develop next generation scientists, and provide reliable science information to inform decision-makers and stakeholders. Pharmaceutical Residues in the Water Cycle—Communicating Precautionary Measures, by Marion Dreyer and Rainer Kuhn Successful precaution means maintaining of a highly appreciated level) of protection for our waters; however, health protection takes precedence over environmental protection when pharmaceuticals are concerned. DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1671

Twenty subjects (all employees of the State of California Department of Public Health) took part in randomized taste tests and provided a statement on the quality of the 29 water samples (Q) and an action tendency (AT) statement of whether they would be happy to drink the water as an everyday drinking water. The scale of the AT statement ranged from 1 ¼ “I would be very happy to accept this water as my everyday drinking water” to 9 ¼ “I can’t stand this water in my mouth and I could never drink it,” with a neutral value defined as 6. The Q scale was not used in deriving the aesthetic classifications. The linear regression of the mean AT score for each water source on the concentration of TDS was used to determine the concentration of TDS for which a specified percentage of individuals would rate the water as neutral on the AT scale, assuming that the distribution of scores followed a normal distribution with equal variance at each TDS concentration. The percent ranges were arbitrarily selected by the authors, and were defined as follows based on what percentage of the 20 employees of the State of California Department of Public Health would rate the water to be worse than the neutral AT score of 6: excellent ¼ 0% to 15%, good ¼ 16% to 25%,

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Table 1. TDS concentration bounds for aesthetic classifications of drinking water based on subject's individual interpretation of the water's taste

Source Bruvold and Ongerth (1969)

Bruvold et al. (1969)

Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

Unacceptable

A

B

C

D

F

Measured TDS

313

314–638

639–896

897–1129

1130

Measured TDS (rounded)

300

301–600

601–900

901–1100a

1101a

Measured TDS (mean of 3 taste scales)

397

398–755

756–1030

Description (mg/L)

1031–1282

1283

TDS ¼ total dissolved solids. a Although Health Canada (1979) and Bruvold et al. (1975) report this limit as 1200 mg/L, it is reported as 1100 mg/L in Bruvold and Ongerth (1969).

fair ¼ 26% to 35%, poor ¼ 36% to 45%, and unacceptable ¼ 46% to 100%. The concentration at the upper end of the D grade category (i.e., “poor”) indicates that, on average, 55% of the employees (i.e., 11 of 20) would still accept water at this TDS concentration as their everyday drinking water. The Bruvold and Ongerth (1969) study was later updated because taste panel studies have been reported to not be representative of consumer responses (Bruvold et al. 1969). A consumer assessment of mineral taste in drinking water was conducted by Bruvold et al. (1969) using randomly selected consumers. The survey also included multiple measures of general taste quality. In this later study, the TDS concentration for the upper end of the D grade category (i.e., “poor”) was calculated to be 1283 mg/L using the mean of 3 different taste scales and 1333 mg/L using the mean of 5 different taste scales (Table 1). Thus, there is considerable variability in the determination of the upper end of grade classifications; the average consumer may well accept water with a higher TDS as their drinking water than a taste panel of employees that work with Public Health.

REFERENCES Bruvold WH, Ongerth HJ. 1969. Taste quality of mineralized water. J Am Water Works Assoc 61:170–174. Bruvold WH, Ongerth HJ, Dillehay RC. 1969. Consumer assessment of mineral taste in domestic water. J Am Water Works Assoc 61:575–580. Bruvold WH, Rosen AA, Pangborn RM. 1975. Human perception and evaluation of water quality. Critical Rev Environ Control 5:153–231. Health Canada. 1979. Health Canada's drinking water guidelines: Taste. [cited 2015 February 6]. Available from: http://www.hc‐sc.gc.ca/ewh‐semt/alt_formats/hecs‐sesc/pdf/pubs/water‐eau/taste‐gout/taste‐gout‐eng.pdf

MONTE CARLO‐BASED DISTANCE ANALYSIS USING UNIT MASS RESOLUTION ICP‐MS DATA FOR SHELLFISH SITE OF ORIGIN VERIFICATION Joseph F Mudge,*y Marc E Engel, Caitlin N Ryan,y and David M Klein†y yTexas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA zFlorida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee, Florida, USA *[email protected] DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1648

Fisheries management and food safety agencies have expressed the need for a fast, easy, and accessible method for identifying where shellfish have been harvested to protect fisheries from overharvesting and to protect con-

sumers from biological and chemical food borne illnesses. High resolution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (HR‐ICP‐MS) can be used to determine isotope ratios that can provide place of origin information (Kelly et al. 2002; Judd and Swami 2010; Holder et al. 2014), but expensive and sometimes inaccessible stable isotope analyses may not always be necessary to distinguish shellfish site of origin. Unit mass resolution ICP‐MS is cheaper and more widely available than HR‐ICP‐MS and results can be used for determination of shellfish harvest site of origin through Monte Carlo‐based distance analysis when concentrations of multiple elements can be analyzed for many replicate shellfish. Although there is likely to be significant overlap in the elemental concentrations of shellfish from different harvest areas, the multivariate distributions of elemental concentrations from different harvest areas allow for site differentiation based on mean concentrations of each element, given a sufficiently large sample of shellfish from each potential site of origin. To evaluate the potential for shellfish site differentiation using unit mass resolution ICP‐MS, we examined Pb and Cd results from oysters originating in 3 different bays along the coast of Texas, USA. We used data from 35 oysters sampled from Galveston Bay, 31 oysters sampled from Copano Bay, and 43 oysters sampled from San Antonio Bay. Oysters were collected at random from wholesale and retail outlets along the Gulf of Mexico from 2011 to 2013. Oyster sanitation tags from inspection reports were used to determine harvest location for each oyster. Oysters were defrosted, rinsed using metals‐free water, shucked, weighed, homogenized, and then digested according to a procedure outlined by Adams and Engel (2014) and Capar and Yess (2009). Pb and Cd concentrations were determined by ICP‐MS (PE Elan 6100 or PE Nexion). Analysis was performed in normal mode using a quantification mass of 111 for Cd with mass 114 also monitored for confirmation. Mass 208 was monitored for Pb and masses 206, 207, and 208 were summed for quantification (Adams and Engel 2014). For each 10 samples analyzed, a laboratory reagent blank, a quality control sample (Standard Reference Material 2976 Mussel Tissue; National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD), and a calibration check standard were analyzed (High Purity Standards). The level of detection for Cd was 0.0076 mg/g wet weight (ww) and the level of detection for Pb was 0.003 mg/g ww. The level of quantification for Cd was 0.0076 mg/g ww and the level of quantification for Pb was 0.010 mg/g ww. When results were either below the level of detection or below the level of quantification, half of the level detection level or half of the quantification level were used for subsequent statistical

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Figure 1. Mean oyster Pb and Cd concentrations (wet weight) for each site (SE). Oysters from Galveston Bay, TX and San Antonio Bay, TX have similar Cd concentrations but differ in their mean Pb concentrations, whereas oysters from Copano Bay, TX can be distinguished from oysters from the other 2 bays, based on their Cd concentrations.

analyses. All samples were analyzed in duplicate and averaged between samples. A summary of results for each site is presented in Figure 1. A significance test of whether there are large enough differences in oyster Pb and Cd concentrations between 2 samples of oysters to reject the hypothesis that the 2 samples came from the same population can be conducted using a Monte Carlo‐based distance analysis in Pb and Cd space. This test can be used to determine whether oysters from a questionable site of origin were likely to have originated from their claimed site of origin. First, Pb and Cd concentrations must be centered and standardized across the 2 groups of oysters by subtracting the mean and dividing by the standard deviation so that Pb and Cd concentrations each contribute equal weight to the test. Centroids representing the mean standardized Pb and Cd levels are then calculated for each sample group. The test statistic for the Monte Carlo analysis is the Euclidean distance between the centroids of each sample group. Site labels are then randomized between the 2 oyster groups and the Euclidean distance recalculated over, for example, 10 000 iterations to determine the proportion of iterations with Euclidean distances between group centroids that are as large, or larger than the observed distance between group centroids. This proportion is the p value for the Monte Carlo test. Monte Carlo distance analysis (10 000 iterations) revealed significant differences in mean Pb and Cd concentrations of oysters between Galveston Bay and San Antonio Bay (p ¼ 0.0064), Galveston Bay and Copano Bay (p ¼ 0.0003), and San Antonio Bay and Copano Bay (p < 0.0001). There are a few caveats for effective use of this technique. Some sites are likely to have shellfish with similar concentrations of certain elements. In these cases, site differentiation can be improved by analyzing a larger number of elements and by sampling larger numbers of shellfish under investigation and shellfish from the claimed harvest site. Shellfish elemental concentrations are also likely to exhibit some amounts of both seasonal and inter annual variability. Analyzing shellfish collected at similar times for both the shellfish under investigation and from the claimed harvest site will avoid potential for site misclassifications due to temporal differences in shellfish

elemental concentrations. Elemental concentrations within shellfish can also vary among subsites within a site. Shellfish sampled from a claimed site of origin should be a random sample when the distribution of elemental concentrations is expected to be consistent or is unknown across subsites, or a stratified sample of shellfish from each subsite (each tested separately against the shellfish under investigation) when shellfish elemental concentrations are expected to vary strongly among subsites. If these practices are followed, unit mass resolution ICP‐MS analysis of metal concentrations can be an effective tool for distinguishing among shellfish sites of origin.

REFERENCES Adams DH, Engel ME. 2014. Mercury, lead, and cadmium in blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus, from the Atlantic coast of Florida, USA: A multipredator approach. Ecotox Environ Safe 102:196–201. Capar SG, Yess NJ. 2009. US Food and Drug Administration survey of cadmium, lead and other elements in clams and oysters. Food Addit Contam 13:553– 560. Holder PW, Armstrong K, Van Hale R, Millet M‐A, Frew R, Clough TJ, Baker JA. 2014. Isotopes and trace elements as natal origin markers of Helicoverpa armigera—An experimental model for biosecurity pest. PLoS ONE 9:e92384. Judd CD, Swami K. 2010. ICP‐MS determination of lead isotope ratios in legal and counterfeit cigarette tobacco samples. Isot Environ Health S 46:484–494. Kelly SD, Baxter M, Chapman S, Rhodes C, Dennis J, Brereton P. 2002. The application of isotopic and elemental analysis to determine the geographical origin of premium long grain rice. Eur Food Res Technol 214:72–78.

INTERNET‐BASED PLATFORMS FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION Sarah R Bowman* and Jared Bozichz yThe Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA zUniversity of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA *[email protected] DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1650

With recent advances in science and technology, the need to make newly found knowledge more accessible to the public is

Integr Environ Assess Manag 11, 2015—PM Chapman, Editor

ever growing. However, as society is surrounded by an influx of websites and social media platforms that provide timely information at our fingertips, it can be difficult to sort through factual science‐based information and advocacy information. We, the scientific community, acknowledge that the average person may not lookup and use scientific articles in online journals, but may reach out to science magazines, news sources, or social media to get information. Today’s digital world offers Internet tools that can be effective in communicating and informing the public and scientists of new breakthroughs in scientific research and technologies. We now have the unprecedented ability to use weblogs, social media platforms, and websites as highways for communicating reliable science‐based information in a way that is comprehensible to a target audience. According to Bik and Goldstein (2013), Facebook, Twitter, and weblogs, or “blogs,” each globally reach more than 175 million people monthly. This far exceeds the reach of print magazines and newspapers that globally reach less than 175 million people per month. A survey of where people get science information shows that 56% of people rely on the Internet (University of Chicago 2008). Therefore, we must ask ourselves, what are we waiting for? Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, blogging sites (e.g., wordpress.org and blogger.com) and LinkedIn offer a flexible, free, and user‐friendly means of reaching a broad demographic of people while making scientific knowledge accessible. Although this is not an exhaustive list of platforms, they are among some of the most popular. However, before a platform is chosen, it is important to specify goals and target demographic, as this largely dictates the degree of detail and style of language that may determine platform of choice. The next step is to create an online presence through repeated discrete entries or “posts”; this will generate new and maintain old visitors or “followers.” At times, social media and blogging tend to be 2‐way streets, which can be engaging but time consuming to maintain, as hosts and followers exchange ideas in near‐real time (Williams 2008). However, it can be highly beneficial to build an audience and followers by engaging in others’ posts and blogs; this increases site traffic and creates mutualistic relationships with other platform hosts. Facebook pages are an easy way to create a social media platform for a business, individual, as well as a scientific research center. Pages enable the posting of texts, photographs, videos, and links to other websites. An example of this, managed by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America and Europe Student Advisory Councils, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ studentsofSETAC. Facebook pages also allow hosts to determine success by tracking the total number of “likes” and “shares” posts receive (shares and likes are a way a follower recognizes and shares host information). These data can be useful in determining whether targeted audience and goals are achieved. Twitter is a platform for sharing short messages (140 characters or less), links, and photographs with a broad audience (anyone who follows the hosts’ account). Twitter is a great platform to post from real‐time events, such as scientific conferences. It is also useful for bringing visibility to journal articles, where shared articles are 11 times more likely to be cited than nonshared articles (Eysenbach 2011). LinkedIn is a website for professionals that can increase personal visibility in a target field (or beyond). This website allows users to create a

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professional profile that is similar in structure to a resume. LinkedIn allows users to connect with each other to share information, recruit for employment opportunities, and network. LinkedIn Groups are useful for discussions on a topic or to bring together people with common interests. Blogs have been around since the late 1990s yet, until recently, their emergence as a professional tool for communicating new ideas has been underused and underestimated. This makes blogging a relatively new approach to bridging the gap that exists between scientific research and the public’s understanding of science, and can also serve as a way to enhance scientists’ ability to engage in informal science communication (Williams 2008; Bishop et al. 2014). An example, created by the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, can be found at http://sustainable-nano.com/. Like Facebook, blog platforms allow the tracking of vital metrics that reveal blog success, for example, number of unique and returning visitors, average stay duration, and total page views. Blogs may be 500 to 2000 words and require a focused message or a clear story (Bishop et al. 2014). The language style blogs use can differ and should be dependent on the target audience. Informal language is typical of the style used in blogs to effectively communicate scientific research to lay audiences. Bishop et al. (2014) found that this style of communication is a beneficial practice that enhances written communication skills of scientific researchers. Therefore, blogs have multiple purposes that benefit both readers and writers. Collectively, these platforms for communication have the potential to reach close to 1 billion people. Although we do not recommend one individual method for using the Internet for science communication, a combination is most likely to be successful. Less writing‐intensive platforms (e.g., Twitter) can complement more writing intensive platforms such as blogs. For example, social media platforms may be linked to blogs, in‐ press journal articles, or new material on websites. Providing short messages that link to more information is just another way to bring visibility to new content on other websites or platforms and helps keep followers up‐to‐date on the latest research or science‐based problems. Although many of these platforms are useful for communicating science to the public or targeted groups, they can also be used to communicate and collaborate with other scientists (Williams 2008). Increasing our online presence through social media and blogging platforms allows us to increase our networks and build new collaborations that otherwise may not have been possible. It is important to consider individual goals and target audience and to follow‐up on ways so that the right people are being reached with the right messages. As scientists, social media and blogging platforms can be one more tool in our toolbox for informing the public with factual science‐based information and to help develop scientists’ written communication skills. Through Internet‐based informal science communication platforms we can educate a broad demographic, develop next generation scientists, and provide reliable science information to inform decision makers and stakeholders. Acknowledgment—This work is funded as part of National Science Foundation grant CHE‐1240151.

REFERENCES Bik HM, Goldstein MC. 2013. An introduction to social media for scientists. PLoS Biol 11:e1001535.

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Bishop LM, Tillman AS, Geiger FM, Haynes CL, Klaper RD, Murphy CJ, Orr G, Pedersen JA, DeStefano L, Hamers RJ. 2014. Enhancing graduate student communication to general audiences through blogging about nanotechnology and sustainability. J Chem Educ 91:1600–1605. Eysenbach G. 2011. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on twitter correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. J Medical Internet Res 13:e123. University of Chicago. 2008. National Opinion Research Center, General Social Survey. Chicago (IL): Univ Chicago. Williams AJ. 2008. Internet‐based tools for communication and collaboration in chemistry. Drug Discov Today 13:502–506.

PHARMACEUTICAL RESIDUES IN THE WATER CYCLE—COMMUNICATING PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES Marion Dreyer*y and Rainer Kuhny yDIALOGIK, Stuttgart, Germany *[email protected] DOI: 10.1002/ieam.1652

INTRODUCTION Pharmaceutical residues in the water cycle are emerging anthropogenic contaminants mainly in the sense that there is growing recognition of their potential significance as a “risk” management challenge. Presently, we know very little about the risk of “drugs in the water” for environmental and human health. Uncertainty both in regard to the type and to the extent of hazards is high (Kümmerer 2010). Researchers in fields such as environmental risk research, sustainable chemistry, and sustainable resource management and public authorities and organizations concerned with environmental protection or consumer protection are calling for the application of the Precautionary Principle and the adoption of a precautionary approach. These calls are made in view of studies showing that certain pharmaceutical substances can have negative effects in the water flora and fauna, that some substances are even present in drinking water, and given an aging population and an increasing use of prescription and over‐the‐counter drugs. Precautionary measures by pharmaceutical users Three main areas of action for precautionary measures have been identified: drug development, handling of drugs, and technical emissions control in urban water management (Keil et al. 2008). Handling of drugs is where users of pharmaceuticals for human use (lifetime‐related in almost every case) can contribute to reducing the input of pharmaceuticals into the water cycle. They can do this through proper disposal of

unused or expired pharmaceuticals (not disposing in toilets or sinks) and informed use of pharmaceuticals (mainly not taking drugs without medical necessity, in unnecessary amounts, or for an unnecessarily long time, thereby avoiding unnecessary human excretions of pharmaceutical residues). It should be one objective of precaution‐oriented communication to motivate pharmaceutical users to adjust or maintain their behavior accordingly. This Learned Discourse highlights a few insights into challenges of communicating “drugs in the water” and precautionary behavior of pharmaceutical users and provides suggestions for coping with these challenges. These findings have been generated through a literature study with focus on risk perception research, risk communication research, and attitude research, and a series of focus groups with participants from the German Land of Baden‐Württemberg (Table 1), in which communication material informed by the literature study results was tested. Early in the development of communication material or a communication strategy, focus groups can provide important input for the communication’s further development. The research work has been carried out in the collaborative project “Concepts and Technologies for the Separate Treatment of Wastewater from Health Care Facilities” (SAUBERþ, 2011–2015) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the funding measure “Risk Management of Emerging Compounds and Pathogens in the Water Cycle” (RiSKWa).

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES AND POSSIBLE WAYS TO ADDRESS THEM Proper disposal: High potential as “attention cue” Generally, behavior adjustment, or even change, is a highly ambitious goal of risk communication. Usually, it requires systematic content‐related information processing by the addressees. In the present case, conditions for intensive information processing are unfavorable: the issue is characterized by considerable complexity and uncertainty, the threat source (pharmaceuticals) is associated with high individual and societal benefit, and the threats have no direct relevance for the individual (Dreyer et al. 2014; Petty and Cacioppo 1986). Under these conditions it is also particularly difficult to attract interest in the issue; “attention cues” that can draw attention to the information are important. One finding from the focus groups was that the topic of “disposal of pharmaceuticals” may serve as an attention cue for information on pharmaceutical residues in the water cycle. This is because there is substantial need for information on

Table 1. Four focus groups on the responsible use of pharmaceuticals FG Composition Number of participants Recruitment (in the German land of Baden‐Wuerttemberg)

FG ¼ focus groups.

FG 1

FG 2

FG 3

FG 4

Diverse

Chronically ill

Elderly

Possible multipliers of information

10

7

9

7

Focus Focus group group participant participant data base data base

• Focus group participant data base • Advertisement in an internet job board for elderly • Contact with care center

Direct contact with organizations and individuals from the care sector, medical profession, pharmacists' association, environmental authority, competence center for micropollutants

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what is “proper” disposal. Many focus group participants complained about confusing information about disposal and expressed an interest in clarification (e.g., about the role of pharmacies). This is not surprising as there is no uniform disposal standard in Germany. Flyers and brochures that inform about proper and improper disposal, highlight the environmental protection aspect, and include references to sources of further information on this aspect (e.g., Websites) can purposefully meet this information need, may reduce emissions caused by disposal in toilets and sinks (that are not to be neglected, e.g., http://www.isoe.de/fileadmin/ redaktion/Presse-Aktuelles/Pressemitteilungen/2014/pm-isoemedikamentenentsorgung-2014.pdf), and may initiate sensitization for and interest in the broader issue of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle. It is, therefore, welcome that such information material is increasingly available in Germany (Götz et al. 2012).

manner and pointing to the advantages of good nutrition and exercise can be perceived as improper assignment of blame, particularly with those taking drugs regularly and in particular due to unclear hazards. Alternatively, directly addressing the reader may be avoided and the positive effects of a reflected use of pharmaceuticals by an informed population described.

Disposal in household waste: In need of explanation

IT IS WORTH TAKING PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

In Germany unused and expired pharmaceuticals are classified as municipal waste and may, therefore, be disposed in household waste (“Restmüll”). This was new to most of the focus group participants and not immediately obvious. Several had regarded disposal in household waste as the very opposite of a “responsible disposal.” It is therefore important to carefully explain that this disposal channel (in contrast to disposal in toilets and sinks) is environmentally safe and also safe for children and third parties if appropriate precautions are taken.

As outlined, communicating precautionary measures by pharmaceutical users involves special challenges. In dealing with these challenges the focus should be on 2 main messages: in the long term, successful precaution means maintaining of a high level (and a highly appreciated level) of protection for our waters and our drinking water, and health protection takes precedence over environmental protection when pharmaceuticals are concerned.

Caution in calling to avoid unnecessary use of pharmaceuticals Pharmaceuticals for humans enter the water cycle mainly by natural excretions. Informed and reflected use of pharmaceuticals is therefore another way in which emissions can be reduced. The focus group discussions showed how important it is that the information offered makes it clear that individual options for action as regards the entry path “natural excretions” are clearly limited and that human‐health benefits of pharmaceuticals need to be put first. Directly calling on the addressees to use pharmaceuticals in a reflected and informed

Harmful to fish, harmless for me? A major challenge is to strike a balance between awakening (providing motivation to adjust behavior) and reassuring (no reason to be alarmed) and providing information that is (and is perceived as) consistent and noncontradictory. Particularly, the reassuring statement that drinking water is (still) safe and of highest quality needs to be explained in direct relation to statements that there is evidence for concrete hazards for aquatic organisms in surface waters.

REFERENCES Dreyer M, Kuhn R, Renn O, Palmowski L. 2014. Risikokommunikation zu Arzneimitteln in Gewässern: Ein Balanceakt. Prävention und Gesundheitsforschung 9:223–229. Götz K, Benzing C, Deffner J, Keil F. 2012. Handbook. Communication strategies for sharpening environmental awareness in the handling of pharmaceutical drugs. ISOE Studientexte 16. Frankfurt, Germany: Institut für sozialökologische Forschung. 127 p. Keil F, Bechmann G, Kümmerer K, Schramm E. 2008. Systemic risk governance for pharmaceutical residues in drinking water. GAIA 17:355–361. Kümmerer K. 2010. Pharmaceuticals in the environment. Ann Rev Environ Resour 35:57–75. Petty RE, Cacioppo JTC. 1986. Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New York (NY): Springer. 284 p.