Don't ask, don't tell seems to be the US approach to drugs in water. According to an AP story, "U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked"
But don't worry, the concentrations are low enough that the drugs and drug-making chemicals are not a problem. At least, we dont' think they're a problem even though we don't really know because we're not monitoring. Tweet
2 comments:
Sure, they're not a problem. Until all you guys suddenly have no viable sperm from all the ingested pseudoestrogens. THEN the governement will get upset - they're very protective of their manhood.
Drugs in water not a problem? Have any of these guys noticed that there are a lot of ecological changes that are going on with no rational explanation. Bee decline, bat decline, etc, etc! These may not be directly related to pharmaceuticals in water, or then again maybe they are.
One possible hypothesis regarding bats. We know that small brown bats are being affected by a fungus that they have lived with in caves during hibernation for eons. What's the change? As a chronic lyme disease sufferer I have been taking antibiotics for years and years off and on. One of the side effects is chronic fungal infections.
Where do most of the insects that bats eat come from? Brooks, rivers, ponds, and lakes-all carring measurable levels of pharmaceutical antibiotics. I wonder if it is possible that the macroinvertebrates emerge from their aquatic habitat as adults carrying low levels of antibiotics and then get ingested by bats, who in the winter live in fungal infested caves! Maybe not, but may be a possibility.
Tons of antibiotics are released into our water supplies every year, primarily through agricultural practices and bad human household practices. They permeate our aquatic ecosystems.
No, it's not a problem at all if you live in Bizarro World.
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