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koganbotAccording to AP story Drug Traces Common In Tap Water (title a bit misleading, since the drug traces may well be common in filtered and bottled water too; and by drugs they also mean hormones and the like, pharmaceuticals in general)
Summary:
--Trace amounts of drugs, hormones, etc. are common in drinking water sources, including headwaters and aquifers (get into the environment from humans and livestock excreting the pharmaceuticals into sewage and from leakage in manufacturing)
--The long-term effects of these traces of pharmaceuticals on humans and other living things is not well understood, but studies of wildlife are disturbing (e.g., male fish developing female characteristics), and medications are of special concern because most are designed to work on the human body - this doesn't mean that they're necessarily dangerous in these trace amounts but rather that we don't know
--There are no standards or regulations regarding their presence
--There isn't extensive screening yet to see how much is in the water
--There are no current sewage systems designed to remove pharmaceuticals
--The current technologies that could remove the pharmaceuticals may be prohibitively inefficient and expensive
Summary:
--Trace amounts of drugs, hormones, etc. are common in drinking water sources, including headwaters and aquifers (get into the environment from humans and livestock excreting the pharmaceuticals into sewage and from leakage in manufacturing)
--The long-term effects of these traces of pharmaceuticals on humans and other living things is not well understood, but studies of wildlife are disturbing (e.g., male fish developing female characteristics), and medications are of special concern because most are designed to work on the human body - this doesn't mean that they're necessarily dangerous in these trace amounts but rather that we don't know
--There are no standards or regulations regarding their presence
--There isn't extensive screening yet to see how much is in the water
--There are no current sewage systems designed to remove pharmaceuticals
--The current technologies that could remove the pharmaceuticals may be prohibitively inefficient and expensive
