What's in your drinking water?

[Correction]

http://consumerist.com/365629/ap-41-mil ... x-hormones

Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

_Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

_Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

_A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.

_The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

_Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.

The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.

The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.

Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.

http://www.townhall.com/news/us/2008/03 ... ments=true

yummy!

[Remyo]

I'm sure all the worlds water has some kind of nasty shit in it but it doesn't make it to where we don't need to drink it any less.

[Krye]

And just think, people will drink this nasty shit, but they can't stand to buy a video game that has been even touched by another person.

[Blarg]

My water is clean, I have a glacier in my backyard that I drink from.

[finale23]

http://consumerist.com/365629/ap-41-million-americans-drink-water-contaminated-with-antibiotics-anti+convulsants-mood-stabilizers-and-sex-hormones

Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

_Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

_Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

_Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

_A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco's drinking water.

_The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

_Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.

The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.

The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Phoenix, Boston and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.

Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.

http://www.townhall.com/news/us/2008/03 ... ments=true

yummy!

i, living in philadelphia for the past couple years, am glad that i only drink bottle water.

[Remyo]

My water is clean, I have a glacier in my backyard that I drink from.

it has mastadon piss in it.

[Remyo]

i, living in philadelphia for the past couple years, am glad that i only drink bottled tap water.

[Slapper]

I dont know anyone today who drinks straight from that tap w/o any filter of somesort.

[Remyo]

I dont know anyone today who drinks straight from that tap w/o any filter of somesort.

I do.

[Cheerios]

I drink straight from the tap Wisconsin water can't be that bad.

[Charismatic]

I drink from the tap occasionally as well.

[Khamsin]

Who ever said it was bad for us? We're all sexier, our hearts are healthier, we're less prone to infection, more calm, and most importantly, we stay regular!

What's so bad about that?

[Metah]

Sometimes I drink right from the tap, but I don't drink plain water really.

[Blarg]

My water is clean, I have a glacier in my backyard that I drink from.

it has mastadon piss in it.

That's naturally filtered mastadon piss sir.

I also haven't taken a drink from bottled water in probably 5 or so years. I probably have used bottled water less than 5 times ever, straight from the tap is how its done in BC, for me atleast.

[finale23]

i, living in philadelphia for the past couple years, am glad that i only drink bottled vitamin water.

[Demosthenes11]

there are also traces of cocaine in all air. Who cares?
Detected =/= harmful

[guartz]

I don't drink any water, at all. Ever.

[Maxxthepenguin]

I dont know anyone today who drinks straight from that tap w/o any filter of somesort.

Your tap water has been through MUCH better filters than whatever bullshit you use. These are trace amounts. "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" is from an article on the same report, one that doesn't want to scare you shitless. We don't know if those trace amounts will harm people.

Bottled water is far more dangerous. It is not only often tap water but bottled water has almost no regulation. The water could be septic and though the company would be liable, they could sell it. Tap water, however, is not allowed to be distributed until it reaches a healthy purity. Now, in practice, bottled water tends to be about the same.

btw the article I read, the one with nonsense such as facts: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080309/ap_ ... rmawater_i

[Plow]

In other words, the same shit that's in my meat, my dairy, my vegetables, and my bread?

[Priran]

Bottled water is far more dangerous. It is not only often tap water but bottled water has almost no regulation. The water could be septic and though the company would be liable, they could sell it. Tap water, however, is not allowed to be distributed until it reaches a healthy purity. Now, in practice, bottled water tends to be about the same.

Not entirely true. The FDA does regulate bottled water purity (and in some cases, regulates it more strictly than tap water) amongst other things such as labeling (what qualifies as "mineral water" and such). But bottled water tends to be about as safe as tap water because bottled water tends to be tap water. Aquafina and Dasani, I believe, are almost straight from the faucet.

http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2002/402_h2o.html