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Pharmaceuticals in tap water through sewage { March 10 2008 }

Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
   http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/10/usa.water

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/10/usa.water

Drug residue found in US water supplies

Associated Press
guardian.co.uk,
Monday March 10 2008

Pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilisers and sex hormones have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41m Americans, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.

The concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose, and water utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of the nation's drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from southern California to northern New Jersey, from Detroit, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky.

The pharmaceuticals enter the water because the bodies of people who take pills absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet.

The waste water is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

"We recognise it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The investigation reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analysed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.

Reporters also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.

The federal government does not require any testing and has not set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested.

Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.

Contamination is not confined to the US. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world.

Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe — even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.


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