![](GoldLine.gif)
Prescription Drugs In Your Drinking Water
![](GoldLine.gif)
06/13/07
By Dr. Dana Myatt
File this in the "unbelievable but true"
folder. If you drink tap water, you may be drinking other people's prescription
drugs.
As if there weren't enough concerns about the health and safety of drinking
water from agricultural pollutants, mercury and other heavy metals, and even
"safe" additives like chlorine and fluoride, now we have another poison to
concern ourselves with: other people's prescription and OTC drugs. Yuk!
An estimated 10% or more of the water you drink has been drunk by someone else
before you. The same water that existed on Earth millions of years ago is the
same water we are drinking and using today, to the drop! Our planet continuously
recycles and re-uses this finite supply of water. Many people don't appreciate
how fragile and finite our water resources really are. Today, we are finding
traces of compounds in our water, including many prescription drugs, that no
one ever thought to look for before.
As early as 2002, a John's Hopkins University press release stated,
"Prescription Drug Pollution May Harm Humans, Aquatic Life: Engineers Develop
Tools to Track Pharmaceuticals Originating in Human Waste." According to this
study, "The millions of doses of prescription drugs that Americans swallow
annually to combat cancer, pain, depression and other ailments do not disappear
harmlessly into their digestive systems, researchers have determined, but
instead make their way back into the environment where they may contaminate
drinking water and pose a threat to aquatic wildlife."
The problem, according to researchers, is that many of these drugs pass through
the body unchanged --- meaning that they will affect unwitting consumers of the
drug the same way they affect those who are knowingly taking them. Waste water
treatment apparently does not remove most of these drugs from drinking water and
sewage. Your tap water can contain antibiotics, prozac, carbamazepine and
primidone (antiepileptic drugs), clofibric acid, gemfibrozil, ibuprofen, p-toluenesulfonamide,
butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and N-butyl
benzenesulfonamide (N-BBSA) and numerous other drugs and chemicals.
So what's wrong with a little daily free Prozac? (said with tongue-in-cheek).
One of the biggest problems for humans is the antibiotic residues. Researchers
estimate that at least 10,000 deaths occur annually from drug-resistant strains
of "super bugs." Drug resistance occurs with overuse (and inappropriate use) of
medical antibiotics, plus our unwitting consumption of additional antibiotics in
meat, dairy products and now, water.
The thought of drinking someone else's drugs (and Goddess only knows what else)
makes me feel beyond queasy. That is why I live in an area where I have pure
well water to drink. But for those who have community and municipal water
sources, a home water purification that uses reverse osmosis has been shown to
filter out these disgusting contaminants.
Of course, you can buy bottled water, but you still don't really know what
you're getting. And even if the water is decent, the plastic jugs it is stored
in can confer plasticizers into the water. For my money, a quality water filter
is a sound investment in good health. Besides, it's great to be able to drink
"tap water" (and know that it's clean) instead of always hoping that
store-bought bottled water is fit to drink.
If you are looking for a way to purify your water, I recommend this line of
Aquasana Water Purifiers
. They are among some of the most highly rated purifiers in
the country, and affordable as well. Don't forget your shower water! When your
pores are open, you can absorb toxins almost as easily as drinking them. A
shower-head filter can make your bathing safe as well.
References:
(To view, roll mouse over the "References" heading; to hide, click on the heading)
1.)
Human pharmaceuticals, antioxidants, and plasticizers in wastewater
treatment plant and water reclamation plant effluents. Water Environ Res.
2007 Feb;79(2):156-67.
2.) Persistence of pharmaceutical compounds and other organic wastewater
contaminants in a conventional drinking-water-treatment plant. Sci Total
Environ. 2004 Aug 15;329(1-3):99-113.
3.) Fate of pharmaceuticals during indirect potable reuse. Water Sci Technol.
2002;46(3):73-80
4.) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in surface and treated
waters of Louisiana, USA and Ontario, Canada. Water Sci Technol.
2002;46(3):73-80
5.) Tracking acidic pharmaceuticals, caffeine, and triclosan through the
wastewater treatment process. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2005 Jan;24(1):25-30.
6.) Pre-treatment optimisation studies for secondary effluent reclamation with
reverse osmosis. Water Res. 2003 Mar;37(5):1177-84.
7.) Comparing microfiltration-reverse osmosis and soil-aquifer treatment for
indirect potable reuse of water. Water Res. 2003 Sep;37(15):3612-21.
Nurse Mark adds: Here is another view on the
Poisoning of Our Water, by cartoon creator Mike Adams
![](WaterCartoon.jpg)
Adams has the following to say about his cartoon:
"I regretfully used the typical "terrorist" clothing
here only as a way to create a visual connection with the expectation of
terrorism in the minds of most Americans. The truth is, terrorists don't really
dress like they just walked out of a Middle Eastern desert. Most terrorists wear
business suits, and if you define a terrorist as someone who engages in the harm
or the threat of harm of human beings in order to achieve a political goal, then
the worst terrorists of all are the politicians running the FDA, who have
indirectly killed over half a million Americans since 9/11 by using tools of
terrorism: Threats, intimidation, disinformation, censorship and worse. (It's
all part of the FDA's effort to silence the truth about the healing power of
nutrition and herbs while pushing a pro-pharma agenda that kills Americans while
enriching drug companies.)"
www.newstarget.com
|