knee jerk reaction

Pharmaceuticals In Drinking Water Concern Two Thirds Of Americans 3/26/2008 … EXCERPTED …. Las Vegas -- According to a scientific survey conducted nationwide for the Water Quality Association, a large majority of Americans are concerned about the presence of pharmaceutical products in their drinking water.
More than half of Americans say they are now planning to purchase home filtration devices in the future, the poll showed.
The random sample survey, conducted March 15-18 by Applied Research-West, Inc., has a margin of error of +/- 4 percent. It follows a January opinion poll on general water concerns, providing an opportunity to compare public opinion before and after news reports about pharamceuticals in water.
“Americans are increasingly aware of potential problems in the water they drink,” said Pete Censky, executive director of WQA.
The survey found that 45 percent of respondents feel very concerned and 23 percent somewhat concerned about pharmaceuticals in their water. More than 80 percent were aware of news reports on the issue.
Overall, just over two-thirds of Americans — 67 percent — are generally concerned about the quality of their household water supply. In the January poll, 55 expressed such concern. Similarly, in January Americans believed by 48 to 41 percent that their drinking water is “as safe as it should be.” In the March poll only 39 percent believed this, while 50 percent disagreed.
The percentage of those stating that the primary responsibility for safe drinking water lies in the home appeared to increase. In January, respondents stated by a 52 percent margin that primary responsibility lies outside the home with their municipality, as oppose to inside the home with water treatment products. In the current survey, that margin is reduced to 44 percent.
Seventy percent said they believe that home filtration plays a role, along with their muncipality, in ensuring safe drinking water.
While utilities are required to meet safety standards set by the U.S. EPA, home filtering systems act as a final contaminant barrier and can further purify water for drinking, Censky said.
Specific product performance standards have not yet been developed for pharmaceuticals, he said, but many point-of-use technologies have proven effective for some of these emerging contaminants. Nano-filtration and reverse osmosis systems removed drugs tested by the Colorado School of Mines at full-scale facilities in Arizona and California. Activated carbon, distillation, ozonation, and advanced oxidization have likewise shown promise in removing many of these contaminants.

Are “we” reacting to fact or fiction..?

Because “we” do not have the honest fact, our responses reflect a “knee-jerk” reaction. Limiting our query, what are the facts surrounding the quantity and the type of pharmaceuticals being consumed daily in the drinking water delivered to us…?

We’ll leave for later discussion conversation about the amount and types of pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, cosmetics, industrial chemicals, etc. also being delivered to us in our drinking water.

Take pharmaceuticals alone, the scope of this one item is huge and currently without any definition as to what quantity over what period of time might negatively impact human kind, physically, mentally, emotional and in some combination..?

Why don’t we know…? Though not surprising to everyone, most of us have been educated to unquestioningly believe the information provided by main stream mass media. As the owners of main stream mass media are extremely large for-profit corporations and their advertisers are also extremely large for-profit corporations, do you really believe you will be given information which paints their sponsors as anything other than great, benevolent, supporter of democracy…? You really think, for example, that ABC news would accurately and openly report that Pfizer (one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical mfr in the world and a huge buyer of mass media advertising) is being investigated for any health related action which does not paint Pfizer as hero…?

Then the “standards” we have allowed government to establish in our behalf defining the “limits” of contamination permitted in our water, for example, are established largely by these same extremely large for-profit pharmaceutical corporations in consort with their purchased science from academia and engineers under the presumed auspices of a reputed “independent-third-party-think-tank” atmosphere like NSF, which they own, support and direct…?

These same extremely large for-profit corporations openly welcome you and me to assume responsibility for removing residual pharmaceuticals from the water we consume, it that is even possible…? Hey, by our action we remove any accountability and responsibility from industry and business and shift more of what economists term – externalities – to us. The term – externalities – is one that “we” should all make ourselves thoroughly familiar to enable us to ask all those salient questions of our government as well as all forms of business and industry.

For the sake of argument, let’s say you want to remove the residual pharmaceuticals from the water you are consuming, how do you go about it…? Do you go to Home Depot and purchase the pretest packaged water filter…? Do you get on the Internet and after determining there are several thousand if not millions of sites offering water filters, in frustration you purchase one not knowing its actual potential to remove any pharmaceutical residual…?

Here’s another topic you may want to consider. Most, though certainly not all, of the “filters” offered for sale at places like Home Depot, Loews, etc., are the proprietary property of some of the largest multinational for profit water purveyors in the world. Can't beat that deal, they make money on all sides of the water issue and laugh while taking your money to their bank.

Until “we” can honestly determine fact from fiction, “we” remain at their mercy.

The power to change this situation lies solely within our collective care, custody and control. “We” have only to reach out and take it and it’s ours. What’s stopping us…?