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© Lynn Ischay/Plain Dealer/fileAccording to a U.S. Geological Survey study dozens of compounds such as antibiotics, prescription and nonprescription pharmaceuticals, personal-care products and household and industrial chemicals were all found in trace amounts Tinkers Creek.
Next time you get up in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom, you might think about where the medications you took earlier in the evening are heading next.

Downstream is the polite answer.

More and more, biologists are finding out that traces of those in-and-out-of-body pharmaceuticals -- and dozens of other compounds, from caffeine to pseudoephedrine -- are making it through wastewater treatment plant operations and into the environment.

What that could mean in the long run, however, is not yet known.

But the U.S. Geological Survey reported in a new study Tuesday that dozens of compounds such as antibiotics, prescription and nonprescription pharmaceuticals, personal-care products and household and industrial chemicals were all found in trace amounts in June 2006 along Tinkers Creek.

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© USGS
"That's true, finding these things is not a shock anymore, but we've got the most accurate data we've ever had," said Bill Zawiski of the Ohio EPA. "Now the next step is to connect the dots and see if there is true ecological impact on the fish population."

Zawiski said he plans to dissect different fish species to see if compounds have accumulated in their tissues.

Tinkers Creek was chosen for the $250,000 study in part because previous biological surveys had indicated the fish population in the creek was struggling, but that conventional water quality studies couldn't explain why, Zawiski said.

The USGS study complements several larger national studies that focused on drinking water. Those studies did not include Cleveland.

But Cleveland Water Commissioner Chris Nielson said Wednesday that the city "advocates more research into the issue." Cleveland and its surrounding suburbs don't draw water from Tinkers Creek or any other river watershed, but from an intake several miles out in Lake Erie.

Wastewater treatment plants in seven cities empty into the creek -- the Cuyahoga River's largest tributary. But experts said that any stream receiving treated human wastewater would probably have similar results.

"A study like this shows us all the impact we can have on the environment," said Mike McNutt, watershed coordinator for the Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners, a nonprofit advocacy group. "Just a few years ago, who would have thought that the things we consume and flush down [the] toilet, or spit in the sinks, could be harmful to the environment."

Other experts cautioned that the study merely counted the trace chemicals and pharmaceuticals in stream water -- it didn't assess how dangerous they may be to plants, wildlife or humans.

Officials said the new study was also significant because it used a large-scale sampling taken both upstream and downstream from the sewer plants over a month's time.

"Before it was simply a grab sample -- a snapshot of time and we would miss some things," said USGS biologist John Tertuliani, who wrote the study. "This allowed us to find out everything getting into the water and determine the cycle in which they were being released from the sewer plants."

Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners' McNutt said the group is already looking at grant money to try to address the problem upstream -- way upstream.

"We're looking into trying out some drop boxes where people could take their unused pharmaceuticals so they don't end up in the water at all," he said.

"Testing and treating for this could take years and millions of dollars, but sometimes a small lifestyle change can address the issue even earlier."