Main Themes

Problems are caused by pharmaceutical residues entering drinking water, rivers and waste water effluents. This raises difficult issues for the protection of public health, while the water industry needs innovative and sustainable technologies to deal with them.

Confirmed Content

Overview of the challenges – some background on importance and value of contamination removal from waste streams - Diane Duncan, HIE
The role of the natural environment and environmental pollutants in the emergence of antibiotic resistance – Dr Will Gaze, University of Exeter
How pollutants get into the environment: detection, social attitudes and solutions – Profs Stuart Gibb, Environmental Research Institute and Ole Pahl, Glasgow Caledonian University
Biological processes for the removal of xenobiotics from wastewaters – Dr Davide Dionisi, University of Aberdeen
Design and Pre-design of water facilities – where the opportunities lie to remove pollutants – Scottish Water
Open for business – Partnering with NHS to develop intellectual property and procurement
Dr Richard Allan - CREW (Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Water) – its ambition, and how it works with other industry and research networks

Background
Strict regulation surrounding wastewater discharges, combined with heightened understanding from research about the damage being done to the environment and public health by pharma residues and other persistent 'priority' chemicals is an area which urgently needs to be addressed by the industry, utility companies and health service. Thirty three compounds are currently on the list of priority substances for which environmental quality standards were set in 2008, including plant protection products, biocides, metals and other groups such as Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs: mainly incineration by-products) and Polybrominated Biphenylethers (PBDEs, used as flame retardants). Europe aims to progressively reduce the level of pollution for these, which are known to be toxic, persist in the environment and tend to bioaccumulate in the food chain - many have been shown to be associated with endocrine disruption, or be mutagenic, tetragenic, carcinogenic or neurologically damaging.

This event is being staged to highlight the scale of these issues, and also identify ways in which we can make a significant difference to public health concerns, as well as heading off the risks posed to Scotland’s international reputation as a pristine location, with food and drink of a quality to match.

Importantly, there are significant opportunities here for businesses to provide technologies and services to reduce the risks, and be part of building Scotland’s reputation as a World leader in research and good practice in this sector.

You are invited to become involved, by joining this one-day workshop, at the Centre for Health Science, Raigmore, Inverness on Wednesday June 1 2016.

Who should attend:

Estates and waste managers – from the NHS and other organisations producing substantial volumes of wastewater and other discharges
Utility and water companies - and businesses in their supply chains
Public Health practitioners
Anyone developing relevant technological solutions - especially sustainable biotechnological approaches
Researchers interested in the water cycle, soil and the environmental contamination from pharma, other currently-recognised priority substances and emerging contamination issues.
People interested in developing the sustainable use of resources and circular economy
Statutory regulators

The organisers would be grateful if you could pass on word of this event around any of your colleagues or other contacts who might be interested in attending. You can also sign up to our circulation list for this and future related events by following this link.

Registrations are closed

Improving healthcare by addressing links with environmental chemistry