Readers Response Draft 2

On the website, “Citizen Campaign for the Environment, Iburch (2015) reports on the adverse impact that improper pharmaceutical waste disposal has on the environment. Improper pharmaceutical waste disposal contaminates potable water sources as mentioned in the article that “low levels of drugs such as antibiotics, hormones, contraceptives and steroids are found in 80% of the rivers and streams”. Due to this, these water sources are unsafe for consumption and usage. At the same time, it harms the marine and human life by leaving them vulnerable to such pharmaceutical waste residue, albeit at low concentration. Some side effects on living organisms include irregular hormonal cycle and antibiotic resistance to drugs. Notably, male fishes were found laying eggs due to prolonged exposure to such residue. Legislation and raising public awareness on the proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste have been put in place to mitigate the problem. The same author explains the cause and impact of pharmaceutical waste disposal with a myriad of examples. However, the statements he put forth in the article are incomplete and unsupported. For example, there was a lack of data to the quantity of pharmaceutical effluent present in the water sources and the same author did not consider other possible environmental factors that contribute to genetic mutation seen in marine life. Furthermore, Iburch did not introduce the safe methods for pharmaceutical waste disposal that is approved by regulatory bodies for the different classes of drugs too.

The first reason why Iburch’s argument is incomplete is because he over generalises the idea of “unused or expired pharmaceuticals being flushed down the toilet”. According to a pharmaceutical waste disposal guideline that was released by the World Health Organization (1999), it states that small amounts of uncontrolled liquid pharmaceuticals, which do not exhibit anti-infective or anti-neoplastic properties, can be flushed down into the sewers. Iburch also fails to elaborate on how human excretion can potentially contribute to pharmaceutical waste. Studies by the Harvard Medical School (2011) have concluded that human waste flushed into the sewage contains unmetabolized pharmaceuticals and this could potentially contaminate potable water sources. In addition, Iburch did not mention anything on the root of the issue; pharmaceuticals that are purchased in bulk were left unconsumed. This results in large amounts of unconsumed pharmaceuticals being flushed down into the sewage.

Furthermore, the examples used to illustrate the detrimental effects of pharmaceutical waste have on living organisms are not convincing due to the lack of statistical data .For instance, the concentration of pharmaceutical waste present in the potable water sources is not mentioned. Iburch states the effects of the pharmaceutical effluents have on the genetic mutation of marine life, without factoring in some other environmental factors. Eisenstaedt (2005) argues that different chemical compositions of water, temperature and other variables can potentially explain the genetic mutation seen in marine life. The lack of concrete data and research makes it hard for readers to come to a more informed conclusion that the hormones present in the pharmaceutical effluents are responsible for the genetic mutation seen.

In conclusion, the author carefully links the cause and effects of improper pharmaceutical waste disposal with a myriad of examples.It would be better if the author addresses the issue in a broader perspective, before moving into smaller details. This would give the reader a general overview of the issue. Lastly, the lack of concrete statistical data and over generalisation of "flushing down unused or expired pharmaceuticals into the sewage" make the arguments which Iburch put forth in the article inconclusive and unsupported. 

References

Iburch. (2015, March 4). Pharmaceutical Disposal.

Retrieved from http://www.citizenscampaign.org/campaigns/pharmaceutical-disposal.asp

Harvard Medical School. (2011,June 1). Drugs in the water

Retrieved from http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water

World Health Organization. (1999). Guidelines for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies

Retrieved from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/medicalwaste/unwantpharm.pdf

Eisenstadt, L. (2005). Drugs in the water

Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/features/drugsinwater.htm

Edited on 4 October 2015.

Reader's Response Draft 1

On the website, “Citizen Campaign for the Environment”, Iburch (2015) reports on the adverse impact that improper pharmaceutical waste disposal has on the environment. Improper pharmaceutical waste disposal contaminates potable water sources, and it is mentioned by the same author that “low levels of drugs such as antibiotics, hormones, contraceptives and steroids are found in 80% of the rivers and streams”. Thus, these water sources are unsafe for consumption and usage. At the same time, it harms the marine life and humans by leaving them vulnerable to such pharmaceutical waste residue, albeit at low concentration. Some side effects on living organisms include irregular hormonal cycle and antibiotic resistance to drugs. Notably, male fish were found laying eggs due to prolong exposure to such residue. Legislation and raising public awareness on the proper disposal of pharmaceutical waste have been put in place to mitigate these prevailing issue.

In Iburch’s article, there is a lack of data to the quantity of pharmaceutical effluent present in the water sources that causes the detrimental side effects observed in living organisms. In addition, Iburch did not consider other possible environmental factors that contributes to genetic mutation seen in marine life.The same author did not introduce the safe methods for pharmaceutical waste disposal that is approved by regulatory bodies for the different classes of drugs too. Thus, this makes his statements put forth incomplete and unsupported.

The first reason why Iburch’s argument is incomplete is because he over generalises the idea of “unused or expired pharmaceuticals being flushed down the toilet”. According to a pharmaceutical waste disposal guideline that was released by the World Health Organization (1999), it states that small amounts of uncontrolled liquid pharmaceuticals that doesn’t exhibit anti-infective or anti-neoplastic properties can be flush down into the sewers. Iburch also fails to elobrate on how human excretion can potentially contribute to pharmaceutical waste.Harvard University (2015), concludes that human waste flushed into the sewage contains unmetabolized drugs, and could potentially contaminate potable water sources.In addition, Iburch didn’t mention anything on  the root of the issue- unconsumed pharmaceutics purchased in bulk. This is the main reason to huge amounts of unused pharmaceutics being flushed down, along with others into the sewage.

Furthermore, the examples used to illustrate the detrimental effects of pharmaceutical waste have on living organisms are not convincing due to the lack of statistical data .For instance,the concentration of hormones in the effluents is not mentioned. Besides, Iburch talks about the effects of the pharmaceutical effluent have on genetic mutation of marine life, without factoring in some of the environmental factors.Eisenstadt(2005)studies the different chemical compositions of water,temperature and other variables that could potentially explain the genetic mutation seen in marine life.The lack of concrete data and research makes it hard for readers to come to a conclusion, that the hormones present in the pharmaceutical effluents are responsible for genetic mutation seen.

In conclusion, the author carefully links the cause and effects of improper pharmaceutical waste  disposal with a myriad of examples. However, it would be better if the author addresses the issue in a broader perspective, before moving into smaller details. This would give the reader a general overview of the issue. Lastly, it is inevitable that pharmaceutical waste is contaminating our potable water sources. It is a problem where attention needs to be directed to.

References

Iburch (2015, March 4). Pharmaceutical Disposal  
Retrieved from http://www.citizenscampaign.org/campaigns/pharmaceutical-disposal.asp

Harvard University (2015). Drugs in the water
Retrieved from http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/drugs-in-the-water

Eisenstadt(2005) Drugs in the water
Retrieved from http://www .bu.edu/sjmag/scimag2005/features/drugsinwater.htm

World Health Organisation (1999), Guidelines for Safe Disposal of Unwanted Pharmaceuticals in and after Emergencies
Retrieved from http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/medicalwaste/unwantpharm.pdf

SUMMARY PRACTICE

On the website, “Citizen Campaign for the Environment”,Iburch(2015) reports on the adverse impact that improper pharmaceutical waste disposal has on the environment. Improper pharmaceutical waste disposal contaminates potable water sources. It is mentioned by the same author that “low levels of drugs such as antibiotics ,hormones ,contraceptives and steroids are found in 80% of the rivers and streams”.Thus,these water sources are unsafe for consumption and usage.At the same time, it harms the marine life and humans by leaving them vunerable to these pharmaceutical waste residues even at low concentration. Some side effects for living organisms include irregular hormonal cycle, antibiotic resistance to drugs and male fish laying eggs due to prolong exposure to hormones. Legalisation and raising public awareness on proper pharmaceutical waste disposal have been put in place to mitigate these prevailing issue.

The Importance of English to Me

English is a common lingua franca across the globe. Singaporeans, as a whole, use written English tool of our trade. However, some of my peers find writing reflections with “good English”(such as the following) a daunting task.

Well, I do understand their woes. Their job as a “writer” isn’t easy. Essentially, they need to make the reader grasp the gist of a topic or an agenda readily and precisely. At the same time, they would need to ask themselves, is this is what they want to convey to the recipient? For this reason, many are prudent in their choice of words, as well as sentence structure in such works. This minimizes unnecessary miscommunications and conflicts.

On the other hand, some use bombastic words to express themselves. Guilty as charged, I was one of them. In my adolescence, I spent most of my time regurgitating “beautiful” words and phrases memorised off composition guidebook in the composition exams, passing with acceptable results. I got the desired grade for my O Level English Exams via this method too.

I carried on with that writing style, not changing it in the Polytechnic. One day, however, my supervisor for my Final Year Project(FYP) told me that I had to refine my literature review segment of my FYP report.That segment was written with dubious sentence structuring and unexplained technical jargon, making it unintelligible.

As time goes by, I learn that a report or research paper written with “good English” should succintly address the problem or issue without compromising the intelligibility. 

Edited on 16 November 2015