Tap Water and Rx Drugs

[Guest guest]

I heard that in JAMA there was an article regarding the interaction of

tap water and prescription drugs that may have deadly consequences.

Seemed to blame it on the chlorine in the tap water. I tried a Medline

and JAMA search but could not find ant refernces. Anybody know if this

is true or not?

 

live free and healthy

 

Ed Kasper L.Ac., Acupuncturist & Medicinal Herbalist

http://HappyHerbalist.com eddy

[Guest guest]

Hi Ed,

 

> I heard that in JAMA there was an article regarding the interaction of

> tap water and prescription drugs that may have deadly consequences.

> Seemed to blame it on the chlorine in the tap water. I tried a Medline

> and JAMA search but could not find ant refernces. Anybody know if this

> is true or not? Ed

 

I could find nothing on JAMA on that. I suspect that the claim is an

" urban myth " .

 

There is a possibility that contaminated urban drinking water may

contain minute traces of prescription drugs/metabolites because of their

excretion in faeces/urine & disposal of surplus/old medicines down he

toilet/wash basin. See:

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/science_news_2002.shtml

 

Also, there is an unproven hypothesis that nitrates in polluted water

could form nitrosamines in vivo:

 

Nielsen JB, Lings S. Nitrosamine formation via non-prescription drugs?

Med Hypotheses. 1994 Apr;42(4):265-8. Institute for Community Health,

Odense University, Denmark. Both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic

nitrosamines can be formed under physiological conditions in the

human body by a reaction between nitrite and secondary or tertiary

amines. A large number of people are exposed daily through drinking

water to high levels of nitrate, which can be reduced to nitrite. Moreover,

nitrate and nitrite are present in vegetables and nitrite is used in food

preservation. Dietary exposure to amines is normally below 100 mg per

day, whereas paracetamol and antazolin, both secondary amines, are

used therapeutically at much higher doses. Knowledge about the

possible interactions between these widely used drugs and the

background exposure to nitrite is presently not available. Therefore, an

evaluation of the carcinogenic hazard related to this combination is

needed. PMID: 7915398 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

Best regards,

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks Phil, wish I would have kept the reference for the

citation. so goes Urban myths.

 

live free and healthy

 

Ed Kasper L.Ac., Acupuncturist & Medicinal Herbalist

http://HappyHerbalist.com eddy