Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water
AP
Posted: 2008-03-09 21:42:14
Filed Under: Health News, Nation News, Science News
(March 9) - A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
Photo Gallery
Matt Rourke, AP
What's in the Water?
1 of 9
Philadelphia: 56 pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutical byproducts, including medicines used to treat pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, 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 our 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 to Louisville, Ky.
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater 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 recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Photo Gallery
Kirby Lee, NFL / AP
Most Toxic
Cities in U.S.
1 of 10
Last year, Environmental Data Resources ranked America's most toxic cities, defined by the amount of man-made chemical in each area's soil. Click through the photos to see the top 10.
10. Cincinnati | Contaminated Sites: 22,992
Leaking storage tanks: 1,719 | Corrective action reports: 44
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They 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.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
--Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.
--Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
--Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
--A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.
--The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
--Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water — Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara, Calif., and New York City.
The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.
In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise. For example, water department officials in New Orleans said their water had not been tested for pharmaceuticals, but a Tulane University researcher and his students have published a study that found the pain reliever naproxen, the sex hormone estrone and the anti-cholesterol drug byproduct clofibric acid in treated drinking water.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va.; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers — one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas — that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kan., refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
The Stroud Water Research Center, in Avondale, Pa., has measured water samples from New York City's upstate watershed for caffeine, a common contaminant that scientists often look for as a possible signal for the presence of other pharmaceuticals. Though more caffeine was detected at suburban sites, researcher Anthony Aufdenkampe was struck by the relatively high levels even in less populated areas.
He suspects it escapes from failed septic tanks, maybe with other drugs. "Septic systems are essentially small treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to fail," Aufdenkampe said.
Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.
Contamination is not confined to the United States. 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.
For example, in Canada, a study of 20 Ontario drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking water at seven different sites.
In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.
Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.
Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.
One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made drinkable.
Another issue: There's evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.
Human waste isn't the only source of contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right through the animals.
Water sampled downstream of a Nebraska feedlot had steroid levels four times as high as the water taken upstream. Male fathead minnows living in that downstream area had low testosterone levels and small heads.
Other veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and even obesity — sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute.
Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no. "Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby — director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. — said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."
Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.
Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life — such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting.
"It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along."
With limited research funds, said Shane Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in water.
"I think it's a shame that so much money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to just accept that these things are everywhere — every chemical and pharmaceutical could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental."
To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater. "We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more."
While Grumbles said the EPA had analyzed 287 pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said only one, nitroglycerin, was on the list. Nitroglycerin can be used as a drug for heart problems, but the key reason it's being considered is its widespread use in making explosives.
So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. Confidence about human safety is based largely on studies that poison lab animals with much higher amounts.
There's growing concern in the scientific community, meanwhile, that certain drugs — or combinations of drugs — may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day.
Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive.
Many concerns about chronic low-level exposure focus on certain drug classes: chemotherapy that can act as a powerful poison; hormones that can hamper reproduction or development; medicines for depression and epilepsy that can damage the brain or change behavior; antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms; pain relievers and blood-pressure diuretics.
For several decades, federal environmental officials and nonprofit watchdog environmental groups have focused on regulated contaminants — pesticides, lead, PCBs — which are present in higher concentrations and clearly pose a health risk.
However, some experts say medications may pose a unique danger because, unlike most pollutants, they were crafted to act on the human body.
"These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific effects at very low concentrations. That's what pharmaceuticals do. So when they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock to people that they have effects," says zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London, who has studied trace hormones, heart medicine and other drugs.
And while drugs are tested to be safe for humans, the timeframe is usually over a matter of months, not a lifetime. Pharmaceuticals also can produce side effects and interact with other drugs at normal medical doses. That's why — aside from therapeutic doses of fluoride injected into potable water supplies — pharmaceuticals are prescribed to people who need them, not delivered to everyone in their drinking water.
"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-09 18:50:12
New York City: Heart medication, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer
New Orleans: Pain reliever naproxen, sex hormone estrone and the byproduct of an anti-cholesterol drug
Southern California Watershed: Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications
Washington, D.C.: Six pharmaceuticals
Northern New Jersey: Metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing drug carbamazepine
Upstate New York Watershed: Caffeine
San Francisco: Sex hormone
Tests were conducted in 35 of 62 major U.S. watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply. Pharmaceuticals were detected in 28 of them.
Last year, Environmental Data Resources ranked America's most toxic cities, defined by the amount of man-made chemical in each area's soil. Click through the photos to see the top 10.
10. Cincinnati | Contaminated Sites: 22,992
Leaking storage tanks: 1,719 | Corrective action reports: 44
9. Seattle
Contaminated Sites: 46,299
Leaking storage tanks: 1,333
Corrective action reports: 30
8. Detroit
Contaminated Sites: 64,541
Leaking storage tanks: 5,458
7. San Diego
Contaminated Sites: 51,009
Leaking storage tanks: 3,740
Corrective action reports: 18
Corrective action reports: 70
6. Indianapolis
Contaminated Sites: 33,857
Leaking storage tanks: 1,206
Corrective action reports: 34
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul
Contaminated Sites: 65,969
Leaking storage tanks: 4,444
Corrective action reports: 52
4. Los Angeles
Contaminated Sites: 271,360
Leaking storage tanks: 9,920
Corrective action reports: 159
3. Portland
Contaminated Sites: 62,466
Leaking storage tanks: 20,655
Corrective action reports: 10
2. Milwaukee
Contaminated Sites: 47,531
Leaking storage tanks: 3,872
Corrective action reports: 41
1. Baltimore
Contaminated Sites: 88,284
Leaking storage tanks: 0
Corrective action reports: 23 Source: businessweek.com
this is serious shit.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-03-09 18:50:12
Music
note this..
the lyrics say::
you put a DRUG in my head.. and now you can't look into my eyes.
-- -- (((our water was druged)))
later in the lyrics..:
not even Jesus will forgive you for the things you have done.
-- and there is a lot inbetween..
Books
15 Benefits of the Holy Basil (Tulsi)
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10. Mouth Infections: The leaves are quit effective for the ulcer and infections in the mouth. A few leaves chewed will cure these conditions.
11. Insect Bites: The herb is a prophylactic or preventive and curative for insect stings or bites. A teaspoonful of the juice of the leaves is taken and is repeated after a few hours. Fresh juice must also be applied to the affected parts. A paste of fresh roots is also effective in case of bites of insects and leeches.
12. Skin Disorders: Applied locally, basil juice is beneficial in the treatment of ringworm and other skin diseases. It has also been tried successfully by some naturopaths in the treatment of leucoderma.
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15. Eye Disorders: Basil juice is an effective remedy for sore eyes and night-blindness, which is generally caused by deficiency of vitamin A. Two drops of black basil juice are put into the eyes daily at bedtime.
Maybe you think all the little things you do don't add up
to much. But altho' it's not always obvious, your kind words
are heard, your advice is taken to heart, your caring is felt
and the responsibilities you shoulder lighten someone else's
load. In so many ways, today is a better.....just because of YOU!
xoxoxoxo
Hey Lucas I was thinking sum random thoughts see im on meds for the mind ya know and i was thinking you know how Neil Armstrong was like idk the first to walk on the moon, well i was thinking he went into a mental hospital , got treated and what do u thikn about this theory I had lol do u thikn the pressure of being like "on the moon" made him nuts lol or was he already? I dont want to really bother with topics like these, but my father did somethin called malingering to = get outta the army, he cut himself and wound up in there. I kno ur into stuff like if refridgeratoers hav ventilation and solar energy aaaaaaaaaan d stuff but it started see when i thought about me being w/out meds , trapped out in the desert or woods somewher im serious lol i asked some p how would i survive and she made a joke about eating snow. its like duh, Im WITHOUT medication - would i go delierious? Whd i mean is what's the use in taking them if I was in that situation but lol then - again youd have to think about hey ppl need insulin with diabetes , right? They'd die, so naturally I would probably succumb into psychosis srry im rambling but sum this concerns me really - then its like existentialism , why bother ? just stop thinkin shit and eat ur yougurt ya know kid, im funny cant help it. Well i was reading about that too and its a rather sad philosophy, were all gunna die so might as well eat the yougurt and stare at the beautiful night sky and stars. take nuthin for granted. I thikn ur fully alive when u realize what a short life we live and all the beauty around us ya know? Think about it. But why just be miserable, and do nuthing, ya know? DO YOU REALLY CARE? and another things is maybe possibly whad i wanna know is, Lucas why do U really care when i kno others dont think about this environment, would waste prescious energy, etc. I care , i've read about how you can help save this environment but I respect u in that behalf , i dont make much scense cos I went out for beers exc
HOLY SHIT how'd ya find that out? YOU've done a HEll a lotta wourk baby oh excuse me i kinda tipsy been drinkin hey you smoke pot? cmon over we'll put the bulbs on the tree maybe on the pretty elmg elmtrees outside decorate with birdseed, would ya like that? Is Uganda a nice place? i hear its beutiful. srry 4 ma punctuation. well, just pretend im normal ok? that's great you can't save the planet but you can help the world will go on ..it will eithr progress or regress, i thikn it has a lot to do wit choices we make rselves. see, what dya think about teknologee? Is it necessary or beneficiual - that's whats in the hole of what matters
CHECK OUT 10 OF 16 TRACKS ON MY MUSIC PAGE NOW FROM THE ALBUM CALLED LEGACY...PLUS I GOT A SHOW ON THE 10th AT KC TAP ON 530 BROADWAY IN PAWTUCKET DONT MISS IT ITS THIS THURSDAY
Hey Lucas!! Hows it going?? IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY TODAY!!! AWESOME!!!! Let me guess...you're on fire cause it's your birthday today!!?? or... you're indifferent cause it's just another day!!??.... hum....maybe you're excited cause you know you're gonna party all night long?? or you hate it cause no one remembered?? (not everyone...I did!! see??!!lol)
Actually, I'm here to wish you a wonderful BIRTHDAY!!
I don't know what meaning it has for you this year... but, offer yourself the greatest birthday gift ever... LIVE IT THE WAY YOU WANT IT!!
You're not a year older today....You're a year stronger!! a year closer to your dreams!!!!
Be free, be yourself, live happy and don't drink and drive!!..lol (oups.. sorry.. that line cut the whole mood...lol!!)
Give me some news!!! Jeff
ps: Here's your birthday gift!!! our song "Voice Inside" that you can download for free!!! Don't hesitate to put the volume to the max!!!!! it's your BIRTHDAY!!
Wishing you the Spirit of this Season which is gratitude,
The Gladness of Autumn which is abundance,
and the Heart of Creator's Artwork which is togetherness.
Thanks for the friendship! If you have any favorite Chili pepper songs you would like to hear live we are taking requests. Keep posted for upcoming shows and events soon!!
Thank you for the add. I'm glad you liked my music. Please check out all of my songs when you have time, they are all different. There's also a video on my page for the Native American song I wrote which will is in this comment if you accept html.
I have a second page where you can listen to my older music if you wish at:
To everyone who has
seen this already, Thank you for your support! For those who haven't, if you
get the chance, watch my promo & tell me what you think. Thanks!
Online Now!
