§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has procured to establish the levels of residue from anti-depressant drugs in waste water which has passed through sewage-treatment plants. [167862]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 23 April 2004]: The Environment Agency carried out a desk based ranking exercise during 2003 on the 500 pharmaceuticals most commonly used in England and Wales in order to prioritise which ones may be of environmental significance.
The top ranked antidepressant from the prioritisation exercise was lofepramine and this was included in a subsequent targeted monitoring survey carried out by 235W the Environment Agency in association with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).
The results of this monitoring programme are set out in the Research and Development Report P6-012/6, "Targeted Monitoring Programme for Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment". This report is in the public domain and will be made available to the Library of the House.
The Environment agency has also developed a position statement on pharmaceuticals, which can be found on the Environment Agency's website www. environment-agency.gov.uk.