The Organics Core sponsored a symposium entitled "Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Environment: Emerging Threat or Unwarranted Concern?" at the Harvard School of Public Health. The symposium addressed three questions concerning PPCPs in the environment: (1) What is the fate of PPCP compounds released into the environment?; (2) Do the observed levels of PPCP compounds pose significant risk?; (3) What actions are being taken by environmental regulators? This symposium brought together researchers with whom we can collaborate in the area of PPCPs.  Dr. Rolf Halden, Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore presented on "Sources, Occurrences and Fate of PPCPs in the Environment.”  Dr. Alistair Boxall,Laboratories in York, UK who spoke on “Environmental Side Effects of Human and Veterinary Medicines."  And, Octavia Conerly, Environmental Scientist at US EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC spoke on "EPA's Regulatory Authority to Regulate Pharmaceuticals."  This symposium has led to new collaborations with Dr. Rolf Halden of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on method development for measuring the high risk pharmaceuticals, and with the EPA representative, Octavia Conerly, on techniques that might facilitate the prioritization within the regulating process. For internal and external outreach the symposium was videotaped and available online.