Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water - What You Should Know

You may well have prescription drugs in your drinking water -- and definitely not just what your doctor ordered. Traces of birth control pills, antidepressants, sex hormones, psychiatric drugs, asthma drugs, painkillers, anti-seizure compounds, and many others have been found in public water supplies.

Drugs in drinking water also include many over-the-counter drugs and compounds from shampoos, detergents and deodorants. The substances have been found almost everywhere researchers have looked for them.

The amount of prescription drugs in drinking water is almost always very small -- but often there are many combinations of drug traces in any given water sample.

Are they dangerous? No one knows for sure.

There is no proof that drugs in the drinking water, in the amounts found so far, are harmful. But it could be a serious mistake to decide they are harmless. Benjamin H. Grumbles, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assistant administrator for water, said, "We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously."

The growing concern is focused on PCCPs (for pharmaceutical and personal care products) which are being flushed into the nation's rivers from sewage treatment plants or leaching into groundwater from septic tanks.

Where do they all come from?

Often, they enter our water when someone taking a prescription drug simply uses the toilet, and flushes away partly metabolized drugs in urine or feces; chemicals in shampoo or other personal care products are routinely washed away in the shower.

And far too often, pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes and ordinary people dispose of outdated or unused drugs by simply flushing them down the toilet. A growing number of states and localities are setting up drug take-back centers or are adding pharmaceuticals to the list of hazardous household waste, like leftover paint or insecticides, collected to dispose of safely, often by incineration.

The EPA now advises people with leftover medicines to dispose of them in the trash or by taking them to designated take-back locations.

We're all part of the problem, we can all help to solve it

If you ever take prescription drugs, you're inevitably going to excrete some portion of the them. Healthful living habits can help reduce our drug use, but it's unrealistic to think we can eliminate this source of prescription drugs in drinking water.

There are still practical things we can do.

1. Take the EPA's advice and properly dispose of drugs and antibiotics; don't flush them down the toilet.

2. Don't use antiperspirants, soaps or other products with the antibiotic triclosan.

3. Avoiding unnecessary drug use is one of many ways organic meats are better: 40 percent of antibiotics manufactured in the United States are fed to livestock as growth stimulants.

4. If your budget allows, organic fruits and vegetables are a great way to cut back on insecticide exposure.

5. Stay informed about prescription drugs in drinking water, and other chemicals, too.

6. Avoid bottled water. Not only are many manufacturers simply bottling tap water, but chemicals leach from the plastic bottle into the water, and more than 80 percent of all plastic bottles end up in landfills, rather than being recycled.

7. Consider a quality home water filter; then bottle your own purified water, if you wish.