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What's in your water? Antibiotics? Viagra? Don't be so sure you know the answer
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New data from the Associated Press (AP) is calling attention to the amount of chemicals in our country's drinking water...and they don't just mean basic chemicals you might expect to find in water.
The data shows that some 271 million pounds of pharmaceutical chemicals are released into our water.
What's in it? Two common industrial chemicals that are also pharmaceuticals — the antiseptics phenol and hydrogen peroxide — account for 92 percent of the 271 million pounds identified as coming from drugmakers and other manufacturers. Both can be toxic and both are considered to be ubiquitous in the environment.
However, the list of 22 includes other troubling releases of chemicals that can be used to make drugs and other products: 8 million pounds of the skin bleaching cream hydroquinone, 3 million pounds of nicotine compounds that can be used in quit-smoking patches, 10,000 pounds of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride. Others include treatments for head lice and worms.
Recent information shows amounts of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water of 51 million Americans.
However, many in the drug industry deny that they are contributing significantly to drinking water pollution. Many federal agencies agree - but without required testing, there is no way to know for sure.
Now information from the AP shows that a wide variety of drugs, including including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones, can be found in water.
In response, many of the drug companies point out that they must comply with environmental regulations. But they concede that they aren't forced to test their wastewater to see what chemicals are being leaked...and so most don't test.
Clearly, agreement needs to be reached on the levels of testing necessary, and then the testing needs to take place. In the meantime, consumers can only buy or filter their own water, and hope for the best. And is that really enough?
You can view the full article here.
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