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The water that tested positive for traces of drugs serves
at least 41 million people, according to an Associated Press
investigation.
The concentration levels of the pharmaceuticals found in
the water were much lower than a medical dose, akin to "a
teaspoon in three or four Olympic-sized swimming pools,"
AP reporter Jeff Donn, who worked on the article, told the
NewsHour.
Still, the five month study raised many questions about the
source of the drugs and the potential effects of low exposure
to the drugs over many years.
Getting into the water
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Wastewater goes through a treatment plant, seen above,
and is then pumped back into rivers and lakes. |
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The drugs enter the water
supply through several routes, including the improper disposal
of unused drugs.
But the majority comes from regular use of medications. When
people take a pill, their body absorbs some of it, but the
rest is passed through the body into waste and flushed down
the toilet.
Drugs can also end up in the water cycle when farm animals
are given drugs, hormones or steroids.
Wastewater is treated, then released into rivers and lakes,
where it can get back into the drinking water cycle. Drinking
water plants treat water before it goes into our taps, but
traces of the drugs make it through the whole process.
Testing
The U.S. government doesn't
require drug testing of tap water or bottled water - which is
often simply filtered tap water.
Getting rid of the drugs is also difficult for the consumer,
as most at-home water filters do not remove pharmaceuticals.
The effects on humans and animals
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American scientists have found fish, such as smallmouth
bass, with both male and female sex characteristics. |
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The effect of low level
exposure in humans is still up for debate. Pharmaceutical industry
representatives argue that the trace amounts will not have a
negative effect.
"Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's
little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to
human health," microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant
for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
told the AP.
But recent studies show that small amounts of medication can
affect human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human
breast cancer cells.
"These are lab studies where cells, human cells are
subjected to very slight amounts of pharmaceuticals, the kind
that are found in water," the AP's Donn told the NewsHour.
"These experiments show that even these slight amounts
appear to be capable of impairing the functioning of human
cells."
One of the problems specific to this kind of pollutant is
that they are made to interact with the human body.
"These are chemicals that are designed to have very specific
effects at very low concentrations," zoologist John Sumpter
from Brunel University in London, who has studied trace hormones,
heart medicine and other drugs, told the AP. "So when
they get out to the environment, it should not be a shock
to people that they have effects."
Some of the most disconcerting information has come from
the animal kingdom. Male fish in several parts of the country
have developed female sexual traits, potentially from estrogen
in birth control pills.
The sex ratios in some aquatic populations have shifted dramatically,
and sexually abnormal bass that produce cells for both sperm
and eggs have also been found.
Government response
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In April, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg will hold
congressional hearings on water quality. |
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In response to the AP
report, two US senators called for hearings to address public
safety.
New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg, chairman of the Transportation,
Safety, Infrastructure Security and Water Quality Subcommittee,
said hearings would be held in April.
"Our families deserve water that is clean and safe.
Our hearing will examine these problems and help ensure the
EPA and Congress take the steps necessary to protect our residents
and clean up our water supply," Lautenberg said.
Benjamin Grumbles, the US Environmental Protection Agency's
assistant administrator for water, told the AP, "Our
position is there needs to be more searching, more analysis."
US Geological Survey scientist Steven Goodbred, who has studied
carp in drug-tainted waters, said it is time for the government
to do more.
"The onus has been on the scientific community to provide
the research, but at this point the evidence is conclusive…
Now it's up to the public and policy makers to decide what
they want to do about it."
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