Tuesday, April 03, 2007
One More Opinion
Medicated Water:
By Phillip T. Alden
San Mateo Daily Journal
Today we find ourselves confronted with many ecologic threats; global warming, toxic waste, global disease pandemics like HIV/AIDS, "Mad Cow" disease, (BSE/CJD,) and the extinction of many animals that are an integral part of our ecosystem; but one of the greater ecological threats is the presence of human medications in our water supply and aquatic ecosystem.
Of all the things we depend upon for our survival on this planet, none is more essential than water. The human body is comprised mostly of this one element. Every naturalist knows the Rule of Threes; three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food – and we die. Without access to clean water there's nothing in this world that will save us from extinction.
Our planet runs on a global system of recycling water. 75% of the earth is covered by water. Every single thing that lives on this planet depends upon access to fresh water to continue, and to the constant and complete recycling of all the water on Earth.
Yet we have treated our oceans like giant dumping grounds for every kind of toxic waste imaginable, from jet fuel to synthetic toxins of every conceivable variety. It's almost like a prolonged suicide, one fueled by denial of the damage we do in our rush to create a better world for ourselves and our children.
Millions of people all over the globe are grateful for the human ingenuity that allows us to create life-saving and life-enhancing medications, but when these drugs get into our water supply the pose a serious health hazard to everyone.
According to a number of recent reports, pharmaceutical and personal care products, (PPCPs,) are leaching from septic tanks and escaping intact from sewage treatment plants, and back into our drinking water. Germany has been on the forefront of PPCP monitoring and they have found the most common medications that end up back in our water supply are; anti-inflammatory and pain-killing drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs, anticonvulsants, and sex hormones from oral contraceptives.
Samples from 40 German rivers and streams turned up residues of 31 different PPCPs, according to a report presented at the March 2000 American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco, by Thomas Ternes, a chemist at the Institute for Water Research and Water Technology in Wiesbaden.
Worldwide there have been over 60 different PCPPs discovered in water systems, according to the EPA in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the drugs mentioned above, the list is expanded to include; antineoplastics, beta-blockers, bronchodilators, lipid regulators, hypnotics, antibiotics, antiseptics, x-ray contrast agents, sunscreen agents, caffeine, and fragrances such as synthetic musks.
Some of these drugs can interfere with the reproduction and development of fish populations located downstream from water treatment plants in the U.S. One of the largest offenders in this category is estrogen, most likely from discarded birth-control pills. Some early lab results showed that exposure to human estrogen feminized male fish in these populations and disrupted the development of circulatory systems, eyes and bladders.
PCPPs have been found in the Mississippi River by college student researchers, and in every major waterway that has been tested since then. Today there is ample evidence of contamination in our oceans. These drugs could disrupt not only the cycle of animal life, (which would be catastrophic enough,) but the cycle of human life as well.
Medicated Water:
By Phillip T. Alden
San Mateo Daily Journal
Today we find ourselves confronted with many ecologic threats; global warming, toxic waste, global disease pandemics like HIV/AIDS, "Mad Cow" disease, (BSE/CJD,) and the extinction of many animals that are an integral part of our ecosystem; but one of the greater ecological threats is the presence of human medications in our water supply and aquatic ecosystem.
Of all the things we depend upon for our survival on this planet, none is more essential than water. The human body is comprised mostly of this one element. Every naturalist knows the Rule of Threes; three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food – and we die. Without access to clean water there's nothing in this world that will save us from extinction.
Our planet runs on a global system of recycling water. 75% of the earth is covered by water. Every single thing that lives on this planet depends upon access to fresh water to continue, and to the constant and complete recycling of all the water on Earth.
Yet we have treated our oceans like giant dumping grounds for every kind of toxic waste imaginable, from jet fuel to synthetic toxins of every conceivable variety. It's almost like a prolonged suicide, one fueled by denial of the damage we do in our rush to create a better world for ourselves and our children.
Millions of people all over the globe are grateful for the human ingenuity that allows us to create life-saving and life-enhancing medications, but when these drugs get into our water supply the pose a serious health hazard to everyone.
According to a number of recent reports, pharmaceutical and personal care products, (PPCPs,) are leaching from septic tanks and escaping intact from sewage treatment plants, and back into our drinking water. Germany has been on the forefront of PPCP monitoring and they have found the most common medications that end up back in our water supply are; anti-inflammatory and pain-killing drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs, anticonvulsants, and sex hormones from oral contraceptives.
Samples from 40 German rivers and streams turned up residues of 31 different PPCPs, according to a report presented at the March 2000 American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco, by Thomas Ternes, a chemist at the Institute for Water Research and Water Technology in Wiesbaden.
Worldwide there have been over 60 different PCPPs discovered in water systems, according to the EPA in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the drugs mentioned above, the list is expanded to include; antineoplastics, beta-blockers, bronchodilators, lipid regulators, hypnotics, antibiotics, antiseptics, x-ray contrast agents, sunscreen agents, caffeine, and fragrances such as synthetic musks.
Some of these drugs can interfere with the reproduction and development of fish populations located downstream from water treatment plants in the U.S. One of the largest offenders in this category is estrogen, most likely from discarded birth-control pills. Some early lab results showed that exposure to human estrogen feminized male fish in these populations and disrupted the development of circulatory systems, eyes and bladders.
PCPPs have been found in the Mississippi River by college student researchers, and in every major waterway that has been tested since then. Today there is ample evidence of contamination in our oceans. These drugs could disrupt not only the cycle of animal life, (which would be catastrophic enough,) but the cycle of human life as well.
# posted by Phillip T. Alden @ 6:09 PM 
