PHARMACEUTICALS AND WATER

FORBES MAGAZINE - - Associated Press…AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water…By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD 03.09.08, 12:33 PM ET
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.
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs - and over-the-counter medicines like 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 - from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.
How do the drugs get into the water?

Just when you thought you had enough to juggle with an economy which is in the tank, a bleak real estate market, record foreclosures, rising inflation, now someone suggests the water you consume is not safe…?

Arlington still won't name drug found in drinking water By TRACI SHURLEY tshurley@star-telegram.com …Wednesday, Mar 12, 2008 … Posted on Mon, Mar. 10, 2008
Arlington officials declined again Monday to disclose the single pharmaceutical found in a study last year of the city's treated drinking water. The issue was highlighted in an Associated Press series this week about such substances in the nation's water supply. They did, however, narrow the list of potential substances by revealing what categories of drugs were found in the pre-treatment drinking water supply.
Not only that but your government suggest you’re – that’s you and me – not intelligent enough to know how to interpret information suggesting that our water is contaminated.

But, not to worry, it’s only a wee bit contaminated so it may not really negatively impact your health. But, we’re not sure…!

And besides, “we” might become unduly alarmed if government and private industry actually told us the truth about what is in our water. That most assuredly is a possibility, but does that grant to government and private water purveyors the right NOT to disclose the results of any pharmaceutical screenings…?

OOPS, I forgot, we’re too stupid to know how to “properly” interpret the results…?

Contaminants raise disturbing questions…By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News…Originally published 02:19 p.m., March 10, 2008…Updated 12:23 a.m., March 11, 2008 … Antibiotics and lotions, pills and hormones foul Colorado's water, from the most pristine alpine lakes to the downstream rivers, say water experts….An Associated Press report says research indicates the chemicals could harm humans, but there is no question that the medicines and personal-care products in the rivers and streams are greatly transforming the fish population, right here on the Front Range….Below the wastewater treatment plant in Boulder, female suckers outnumber male suckers 5-to-1, likely from ingesting estrogen in the streams, said Alan Vajda, a research associate in integrated physiology at the University of Colorado. …Males have egg-yolk proteins in their systems, low sperm counts and intersex gonads….Downstream from Denver on the South Platte River, female fish also greatly outnumber the males, he said.
Pristine areas affected…It's a challenge that could rival mill tailings and agricultural waste in the battle to keep water safe for drinking and for wildlife…."These contaminants, we're finding them everywhere," Steven Gunderson, director of Colorado's Water Quality Control Division, said Monday. "Shampoos, conditioners, lotions - we're finding them in pristine areas, all these chemicals we use in everyday life…."There are literally hundreds of them," Gunderson added. "We're still trying to get our hands around this."
Water treatment plants weren't built to weed out antibiotics and, apparently, they're not.
Don’t worry, assuming that possibly, maybe our water could maybe have just a wee bit of contamination in it from the antibiotics, lotions, pills, hormones, shampoos, conditioners, chemicals, we use and consume we can always revert to bottled water, right…?

It’s safe, pure, clean and uncontaminated, right…?

Well, surprise, surprise, it appears there are NO standards for “bottled water” – caveat emptor – lucky you…

The ornate edifice water treatment plants “we” have funded weren’t designed or built to weed out antibiotics and apparently, they’re not.

NO STANDARDS IN PLACE FOR BOTTLED WATER …By Justin Pritchard, Associated Press Writer …The federal standards for acceptable levels of pharmaceutical residue in bottled water are the same as those for tap water — there aren't any. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the $12 billion bottled water industry in the United States, sets limits for chemicals, bacteria and radiation, but doesn't address pharmaceuticals.
AP PROBE: Drugs found in drinking water nationwide
BOTTLED WATER: Is it any safer?
WATER DEPARTMENTS: Reports rarely released to public
RELATED: Little done to test, limit contaminated water
RELATED: Reproductive abnormalities in fish blamed on contamination
Some water that's bottled comes from pristine, often underground rural sources; other brands have a source no more remote than local tap water. Either way, bottlers insist their products are safe, and say they generally clean the water with advanced treatments, though not explicitly for pharmaceuticals.

Well, I don’t know about you, but if they weren’t designed to treat antibiotics in the first place, what makes us believe they can or should today…?

I am not sufficiently skilled or knowledgeable to know if the technology exists today to honestly address and treat the myriad of pharmaceuticals prevalent in our wastewater today…?

So what do “we” really know about our water…?

§ It’s part of corporate America’s hostile take over of the “commons”

§ It’s contaminated, but just a wee bit

§ You don’t need to know the truth about what’s in your water

§ You wouldn’t understand anyway and probably jump to the conclusion that something ought to be done about it


'Frankenfoods' Giant Monsanto Plays Bully Over Consumer Labeling…By Scott Thill, AlterNet…Posted on March 6, 2008, Printed on March 12, 2008…http://www.alternet.org/story/78660/ …
"There are some corporations that clearly are operating at a level that are disastrous for the general public … And in fact I suppose one could argue that in many respects a corporation of that sort is the prototypical psychopath, at the corporate level instead of the individual level." --Dr. Robert Hare, The Corporation …
Since 1901, Monsanto has brought us Agent Orange, PCBs, Terminator seeds and recombined milk, among other infamous products. But it's currently obsessed with the milk, or, more importantly, the milk labels, particularly those that read "rBST-free" or "rBGH-free." It's not the "BST" or "BGH" that bothers them so much; after all, bovine somatrophin, also known as bovine growth hormone, isn't exactly what the company is known for. Which is to say, it's naturally occurring. No, the problem is the "r" denoting "recombined." There's nothing natural about it. In fact, the science is increasingly pointing to the possibility that recombined milk is -- surprise! -- not as good for you as the real thing.

You say, the FDA and EPA and a host of other alleged governmental agencies postured … “to serve and to protect” … require LABELING which denote the constituents in the specific product.

Think again, as “frankenfood” giant Monsanto, with backing from these same governmental agencies sworn to serve and to protect you, can claim that its rBST hormone in our milk products is naturally occurring.

$cience is for $ale, what do you need or want proven, ask academia and presto they can make it happen.

What’s not to like about the American “free-market-capitalistic-economy”…?

Oh, you say you want the truth sorry that’s not for sale, at least not to you.