Hi! There have been several good articles on this is recent years; here
is a recent one on this.
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Published on Friday, March 24, 2006 by CBC News / Canada
Pill-Popping Society Fouling Our Water, Official Says
Birth control pills, cancer drugs and a host of other pharmaceuticals
that people flush down the drain every day are showing up in our
drinking water, says Gord Miller, Ontario's environmental commissioner.
"We need to do a better job of keeping drugs out of lakes, rivers and
drinking water," Miller told the Kitchener-Waterloo Record on
Wednesday.
Although the drugs are not considered a threat to human health, there
is evidence that they can harm wildlife.
"There is no health hazard in drinking water now that has been detected
in Canada, but we have detected substances in drinking water," he said,
adding that the problem is likely to get worse rather than better as
the population grows.
"Our society loves to pop pills," Miller said. "If you were designing
the perfect pollutant it would probably look like a pill."
Miller was sworn in as environmental commissioner six years ago to
oversee the implementation of Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights.
He is an independent officer of Queen's Park, where he reports on
government compliance with environmental rules.
In his last annual report, Miller said contraceptives, painkillers,
antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and blood-pressure drugs are showing up
in lakes and rivers, while anti-inflammatory and anti-cholesterol drugs
and antidepressants are ending up in drinking water.
Experiments in northern Ontario have shown that exposure to these waste
drugs has led to the feminization of male fish, delayed reproduction in
female fish and damage to kidneys and livers of both sexes, the report
said.
Independent studies by the Environmental Protection Agency in the
United States and by environmental bodies in England have turned up
similar evidence.
Miller said pharmaceuticals are getting into drinking water in several
ways. Unused drugs are thrown into domestic garbage, which end up in
landfill sites and eventually into the groundwater.
Drugs are taken orally and flushed down toilets as human excrement. And
unused drugs are washed down the sink or flushed down the toilet
directly into domestic sewers.
Many drugs pass right through the sewage and water treatment plants,
back into the drinking water.
"Sewage treatment plants aren't designed to remove them," Miller said.
GMCarter - 07 May 2006 00:19 GMT
>Hi! There have been several good articles on this is recent years; here
>is a recent one on this.
>------
>
>Published on Friday, March 24, 2006 by CBC News / Canada
>Pill-Popping Society Fouling Our Water, Official Says
Yes. Interesting article. Thank you, busy bee.
But this article doesn't dispute that HIV exists and causes AIDS.
George M. Carter