2008 Woodie Awards
What's in your water?
Arianne Schulz
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Features
Earlier last week, the Associated Press released an article about the nation's drinking water supply being contaminated with pharmaceuticals. The Associated Press conducted a five-month long investigation that revealed pharmaceutical drugs in the drinking water supplies of 24 large metropolitan areas.
Trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen hormones, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, and tranquilizers were found in areas including southern California, New Jersey, Michigan, and Kentucky. Similar drugs were found in upstate New York and in Philadelphia, other medicines such as asthma, high cholesterol, and epilepsy were found. In southern California, anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were revealed in treated drinking water that 18.5 million people consume.
The article reports that over the past couple of years, Americans' intake of prescription and nonprescription drugs has increased. The contamination of water could conceivably be traced back to metabolized use (drugs do not just "stay" in our bodies and are "flushed out" and back into the water supply) or simply unused by humans.
Additionally, there is the issue of contaminants, such pesticides and lead that have been focused on and regulated because higher concentrations presented a clear health risk. In regards to pharmaceutical drugs, some officials note that human safety may not be jeopardized because of studies done with larger amounts of trace concentrations and lab animals.
Other officials are concerned because humans consume water every day consistently and in respectable amounts. Another point of view on the subject is that pharmaceuticals, contrasting to other contaminants, are designed for the humans. With a compounding consumption, these trace amounts could especially affect and be more devastating to those more in more sensitive conditions-the elderly, pregnant women, and significantly ill people.
Currently, the federal government does not have any required testing for pharmaceutical drugs in water nor a maximum or minimum level of safety. The AP article also notes that some water providers that do screen for drugs only screen for a small number, which overlooks the prospects of other drugs.
Trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen hormones, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, and tranquilizers were found in areas including southern California, New Jersey, Michigan, and Kentucky. Similar drugs were found in upstate New York and in Philadelphia, other medicines such as asthma, high cholesterol, and epilepsy were found. In southern California, anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were revealed in treated drinking water that 18.5 million people consume.
The article reports that over the past couple of years, Americans' intake of prescription and nonprescription drugs has increased. The contamination of water could conceivably be traced back to metabolized use (drugs do not just "stay" in our bodies and are "flushed out" and back into the water supply) or simply unused by humans.
Additionally, there is the issue of contaminants, such pesticides and lead that have been focused on and regulated because higher concentrations presented a clear health risk. In regards to pharmaceutical drugs, some officials note that human safety may not be jeopardized because of studies done with larger amounts of trace concentrations and lab animals.
Other officials are concerned because humans consume water every day consistently and in respectable amounts. Another point of view on the subject is that pharmaceuticals, contrasting to other contaminants, are designed for the humans. With a compounding consumption, these trace amounts could especially affect and be more devastating to those more in more sensitive conditions-the elderly, pregnant women, and significantly ill people.
Currently, the federal government does not have any required testing for pharmaceutical drugs in water nor a maximum or minimum level of safety. The AP article also notes that some water providers that do screen for drugs only screen for a small number, which overlooks the prospects of other drugs.
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