There is no "away"

Some of the suggestive evidence connecting human health effects with possible exposure to EDSs somewhere in the environment is the change in the incidence of disease and abnormalities related to the endocrine system. [...] In this phase, the focus tends to shift from the natural environment and its components to the impacts of controlling the human activities implicated in the issue. [...] The extent, the precise nature, and certainly the significance of the actual and potential problems these substances create by their presence in the environment are not well understood. [...] But as we noted in the Preface, in the case of emerging contaminants in water, the status of virtually none of these four clusters of vital information is fully in focus. [...] Especially in Europe and parts of the United States, the flows of the lower stretches of many rivers consist partly or, sometimes, entirely of treated effluent, with each wastewater treatment facility adding its contribution to the loading of pharmaceutical and other contaminants.