AP Investigation Finds Drinking Water Contaminated With Drugs

According to several news sources on March 9th, The Associated Press (AP) conducted an investigation over a period of five months and discovered that an assortment of drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas serving at least 41 million Americans all over the United States.

Drugs such as antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, sex hormones, acetaminophen and ibuprofen were found in the water samples taken during the investigation. Although the concentration of the drugs found measured to be in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose, the presence of so many prescription and over-the-counter medicines in such a vast amount of our drinking water is raising concerns among scientists about long-term effects on human health.

Researchers have not yet determined the risks of decades of exposure to chance mixtures of these low level pharmaceuticals, however, recent studies have found disturbing effects on human cells and wildlife. Small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells reproduced too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.

One of the effects on wildlife is that male fish are being feminized. They are creating egg yolk proteins, which is usually restricted to females. Studies also show effects on earthworms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory.

These drugs get into the water when people consume medications that their bodies do not completely absorb and the remainder of the drugs pass out of their bodies and is flushed down the toilet. Although wastewater is treated before it is goes into reservoirs, rivers and lakes, and the water is cleansed again at water treatment plants, most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

The AP Investigative Team studied scientific reports and federal drinking water databases, called on environmental study sites and treatment plants, and met with over 230 scientists, educational and other officials. In addition, members of the team evaluated water providers including those in the nation's 50 largest cities as well as other water providers in all 50 states.

Some of the test results are as follows:

• In Philadelphia 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in treated drinking water and 63 were found in watershed. Drugs found included pain, infection, high-cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart medications.
• In southern California some of the treated drinking water contained anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications.
• A Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant yielded metabolized angina medicine and carbamazepine (a mood-stabilizing drug) in drinking water.
• San Francisco's drinking water contained a sex hormone.
• Washington, D.C.'s drinking water contained six pharmaceuticals.
• In Tucson, Arizona, three medications were found in drinking water, which included an antibiotic.
• 28 of the 35 watersheds surveyed across the nation also contained pharmaceuticals.
• Only one of the small water providers contacted in each state reported their drinking water had been screened for pharmaceuticals.
• Of all the locations tested, Only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va. tests were negative for any drug content.

Currently, The federal government does not require testing and no safety limits for drugs in water have been set. Only 28 of 62 major water providers contacted actually tested. Some of the 34 that have not tested are Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection. Some providers only monitor for one or two pharmaceuticals, which leaves a large possibility that others are present.

No one gets away unscathed. Those living in rural communities who have well water can also have contamination from failed septic tanks as well as other possible sources. Users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Water bottlers and the makers of home filtration systems do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals.

Outside the United States, over 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have found pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Swiss lakes and the North Sea.

Although the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is looking at improving detection and has developed three new methods to detect and quantify pharmaceuticals in wastewater, deciding which drugs should be regulated remains a key issue. The EPA analyzed 287 pharmaceuticals for possible inclusion on a draft list of candidates for regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, with only one, nitroglycerin, actually getting on the list. This information is according to Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the EPA.

A major concern is that although our bodies may recuperate from a large one-time dose, we could suffer from smaller amounts ingested continuously over a number of years and this could contribute to problems such as allergies or nerve damage. Those who may be the most sensitive include pregnant women, the elderly and people who are very ill.

Long term consumption of certain drug classes such as chemotherapy that can be a powerful poison, hormones that can affect reproduction or development, depression and epilepsy medications that can damage the brain or alter behavior, and even antibiotics that can allow human germs to mutate into more dangerous forms are of high concern.

According to zoologist John Sumpter at Brunel University in London, who has studied a number of drugs, "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."

These drugs are tested to be safe for humans over a matter of months but not over a lifetime. There are also the issues of side effects and interaction with other drugs at normal medical doses. Pharmaceuticals are prescribed to help the people who need them and should not be delivered to everyone in their drinking water.