Drugs In Our Drinking Water and Rivers=YIKES !!!

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Drugs In Our Drinking Water and Rivers

 

 

Italian researchers went looking for therapeutic drugs in our drinking water

and rivers and unfortunately found nearly every one that they tested for.

They state that these drugs can contaminate the environment because of

metabolic excretion, improper disposal, or industrial waste.

 

There are thousands of tons of drugs that are used by people yearly to treat

illnesses, to prevent unwanted pregnancy, or to face the stresses of modern

life, as well as widespread reliance on drugs in animal farming (e.g.,

antibiotics as feed additives, hormones, etc.). Some of these substances are

excreted unmetabolised or as active metabolites; they escape degradation in

waste treatment plants and enter the environment. Improper disposal of

expired medication and manufacturing facilities can also contribute to this

contamination.

 

Since pharmaceutical products can have long half-lives, they accumulate,

reaching detectable and biologically active amounts. Several commonly used

medicinal drugs, such as erythromycin, cyclophosphamide, naproxen,

sulpha-methoxazole, or sulphasalazine, can persist in the environment for

more than a year. Clofibric acid, the main metabolite of clofibrate, has an

estimated persistence in the environment of 21 years and is still detectable

in lakes and rivers even after its withdrawal from the market.

 

Researchers specifically tested for popular medications which are excreted

unmetabolised (not broken down), plus some previously found in the

environment, as well as others commonly used as growth promoters in animals

 

All drugs, with the exception of 2 were detected in river or drinking water

or river sediments.

 

Although the concentrations measured in the water may result in human

exposure much lower than those producing a noticeable pharmacological

effect, possible effects of long-term exposures have still not been

determined.

 

Lancet 2000; 355: 1789 - 1790

 

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