A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
The concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Utilities say their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas, including Southern California, northern New Jersey, Detroit and Louisville, Ky.
Pill-takers’ bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
“People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that’s not the case,” said Environmental Protection Agency scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
Here are some of the test results obtained by the AP:
n Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city’s watersheds.
n Epilepsy and anxiety medications were detected in some of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
n Trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer were found in upstate New York, which supplies water for New York City.
n A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco’s drinking water.
n The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don’t necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry’s main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.
The federal government doesn’t require any testing and hasn’t set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven’t: Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix and Boston.
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va.; said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas has been tested, but officials are awaiting results.
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