Drugs found in drinking water
by Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, Associated Press
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.
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
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?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it 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.
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 which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
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
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?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it 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.
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 which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 113, Number 10, October 2005
Roughly 100 pharmaceuticals have now been identified in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters throughout Europe and the United States in concentrations of parts per billion to parts per trillion. The first major European studies on this topic--in journals such as volume 67, issue 1-4 (1997) of the International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry and the November 1998 issue of Water Research--examined German ground and surfaces waters, and found occurrences of drugs including cholesterol regulators, analgesics, and antiseizure medications. Since that time, numerous other studies have documented the presence of pharmaceuticals, including potential endocrine disruptors, in other locales as well.
So far there is no evidence of adverse human health effects due to traces of pharmaceuticals in water. But scientists have linked certain pharmaceuticals with disturbing ecosystem changes. For example, in volume 8 (1994) of Chemistry and Ecology, researchers demonstrated that the feminization of fish--male carp and trout producing vitellogenin, an egg protein usually found only in females--was associated with exposure to sewage effluent now known to contain ethinyl estradiol, the active ingredient in birth control pills.
There is much concern about what is not known: ecotoxicity data are available for less that 1% of human pharmaceuticals, according to estimates published in the April 2004 issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Today, intensive research is under way to investigate the effect of human medications on the environment.
Roughly 100 pharmaceuticals have now been identified in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters throughout Europe and the United States in concentrations of parts per billion to parts per trillion. The first major European studies on this topic--in journals such as volume 67, issue 1-4 (1997) of the International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry and the November 1998 issue of Water Research--examined German ground and surfaces waters, and found occurrences of drugs including cholesterol regulators, analgesics, and antiseizure medications. Since that time, numerous other studies have documented the presence of pharmaceuticals, including potential endocrine disruptors, in other locales as well.
So far there is no evidence of adverse human health effects due to traces of pharmaceuticals in water. But scientists have linked certain pharmaceuticals with disturbing ecosystem changes. For example, in volume 8 (1994) of Chemistry and Ecology, researchers demonstrated that the feminization of fish--male carp and trout producing vitellogenin, an egg protein usually found only in females--was associated with exposure to sewage effluent now known to contain ethinyl estradiol, the active ingredient in birth control pills.
There is much concern about what is not known: ecotoxicity data are available for less that 1% of human pharmaceuticals, according to estimates published in the April 2004 issue of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Today, intensive research is under way to investigate the effect of human medications on the environment.
Ion Aqua Life USA
Ionized water for wellness
Damming the Flow of Drugs into Drinking Water
IonAquaLifeUSA
by Sang Whang
We live in a century of highly accelerated advancements in science and technology. At the turn of the century, man began to fly. Today, we can even fly to the moon. Isnt it reasonable to expect that science today should discover the technology of reverse aging? Well, it has! This series of articles is to explain scientifically the simple truth about the process of aging, how to combat the aging process and going further, how to attempt to reverse this process.
Here is the simple process of aging. Every living cell within our body creates waste products. The nutrients from our food are delivered to each cell and they burn with oxygen to provide energy for us to live. The burned nutrients are the waste products. Whether you eat gourmet or junk food, all food generates waste products. The food that is either good or bad for you is determined by the amount and quality of the wastes produced: toxic, acid, alkaline, etc. Most of our cells go through metabolism and old dead cells become waste products.
These waste products must be discharged from our body. In fact, our body tries its best to dispose of them through urine and perspiration. Virtually all waste products are acidic; that is why urine is acidic and skin surface is also acidic. The problem is that, due to several reasons, our body cannot get rid of 100% of the waste products it produces.
The main reason for this is our life style. We stay up late and get up early. We do not take time to rest; some of us work more than one job. We, therefore, spend more time producing waste products than processing and discharging them.
The second reason is food. Most of the food we like is mainly acidic. Acidic food does not necessarily mean that it tastes acidic, but that the wastes it produces are acidic. Grains and meats are mainly acidic; fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Citric fruits may taste acidic but they are considered to be alkaline because they contain alkaline minerals.
The third reason is our environment. More healthy cells are killed by air, water and soil pollution than the natural death of cells caused by normal metabolism. Thus, more waste products are created.
The question is: "What happens to those non-disposed acidic waste products?" The answer is simple. These waste products become solid wastes, such as, cholesterol, fatty acid, uric acid, kidney stones, urates, phosphates, sulfates, etc., and, unknown to us, they accumulate and build-up somewhere within our body. This accumulation of non-disposed acidic wastes within our body is the aging process(1).
Alkaline neutralizes acid. Drinking alkaline water helps our body dissolve acid wastes and make it easier for the body to dispose of them safely. Since the accumulation of acid wastes is aging, the reduction of acid wastes is reverse aging. Alkaline water is not a medicine to cure any disease. However, if consumed regularly, alkaline water gradually reduces the accumulated acid wastes. As a result of acid reduction, there are many reports of natural health improvement in Japan.
We live in a century of highly accelerated advancements in science and technology. At the turn of the century, man began to fly. Today, we can even fly to the moon. Isnt it reasonable to expect that science today should discover the technology of reverse aging? Well, it has! This series of articles is to explain scientifically the simple truth about the process of aging, how to combat the aging process and going further, how to attempt to reverse this process.
Here is the simple process of aging. Every living cell within our body creates waste products. The nutrients from our food are delivered to each cell and they burn with oxygen to provide energy for us to live. The burned nutrients are the waste products. Whether you eat gourmet or junk food, all food generates waste products. The food that is either good or bad for you is determined by the amount and quality of the wastes produced: toxic, acid, alkaline, etc. Most of our cells go through metabolism and old dead cells become waste products.
These waste products must be discharged from our body. In fact, our body tries its best to dispose of them through urine and perspiration. Virtually all waste products are acidic; that is why urine is acidic and skin surface is also acidic. The problem is that, due to several reasons, our body cannot get rid of 100% of the waste products it produces.
The main reason for this is our life style. We stay up late and get up early. We do not take time to rest; some of us work more than one job. We, therefore, spend more time producing waste products than processing and discharging them.
The second reason is food. Most of the food we like is mainly acidic. Acidic food does not necessarily mean that it tastes acidic, but that the wastes it produces are acidic. Grains and meats are mainly acidic; fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Citric fruits may taste acidic but they are considered to be alkaline because they contain alkaline minerals.
The third reason is our environment. More healthy cells are killed by air, water and soil pollution than the natural death of cells caused by normal metabolism. Thus, more waste products are created.
The question is: "What happens to those non-disposed acidic waste products?" The answer is simple. These waste products become solid wastes, such as, cholesterol, fatty acid, uric acid, kidney stones, urates, phosphates, sulfates, etc., and, unknown to us, they accumulate and build-up somewhere within our body. This accumulation of non-disposed acidic wastes within our body is the aging process(1).
Alkaline neutralizes acid. Drinking alkaline water helps our body dissolve acid wastes and make it easier for the body to dispose of them safely. Since the accumulation of acid wastes is aging, the reduction of acid wastes is reverse aging. Alkaline water is not a medicine to cure any disease. However, if consumed regularly, alkaline water gradually reduces the accumulated acid wastes. As a result of acid reduction, there are many reports of natural health improvement in Japan.
Aging and Reverse-Aging
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Green Energy Secrets is an internet TV channel showing content dedicated to living green. Water for Life will have it's own airtime covering the benefits of drinking alkaline ionized water as well as handy tips for using acidic water around the home for cooking, cleaning, and more. Highly recommended to anyone interested in water ionization technology. Asia is ahead of the western world in knowledge of this wonderful discovery, these shows will definately help the west catch up. Study up on your schedule, as all of the videos are available "on demand".