UrbanSwirl.com - Lifestyles of Color

Tests have found traces of prescription drugs in several cities water supplies.

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.

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, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky.

Philadelphia is one of the cities with the "problem".  Of course they then minimize the issue saying it's only a little bit. They hypothesize that such small amounts are probably harmless.  Yeah.  Like we should believe them.

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.

Veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for a wide range of ailments -- 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.

Hmm. So alot of these new super drugs are resistent to current filtering processes.  So are they trying to solve this? Nope.  Looks like they will just wait until folks start growing an extra head or two before they look into it.

Now for the tinhat crowd.  I wonder if all this inadvertant drugging of the population has anything to do with the recent surge in irrational behavior?  School shootings, illegal drug use, voting for Bush...

I know one thing.  From now on I will use bottle water for everything...even to brush my damn teeth.