I’m going to start this post with some solutions to the “pharmaceuticals in the water” news…

• Use reverse osmosis home water filters.
• Eat organic meat, poultry and dairy products that have not been exposed to antibiotics or hormones.
• Take unused medication to a local drug disposal program.
• Use health and wellness solutions that get to the root of the problem and don’t rely on medications.
• We can do something about this. YOU can do something about this.

I’ve put these points up front because bad news always seems better when there’s a solution.

What is this bad news? Well, actually, it’s not completely new news, just more of what we already know.

An AP investigation has found widespread contamination of drinking water with small amounts of multiple different pharmaceutical medications. Several of the most widespread are antidepressants, anti-cholesterol medications, anti-seizure medications, antibiotics and hormones. This really is no surprise. After all, what goes in must come out. And if we don’t remove it by filtration, then there it stays. The whole idea puts a new spin on the term “recycle”.

The news that there are pharmaceutical medicines in our drinking water is not new. There is even a 600 page book available on the subject of removal of pharmaceutical toxins from water. But, this report has quantified and broadened the findings. More drugs and more cities. It appears, according to a new AP story, that there is enough alarm that there is a call for a senate hearing.

It is very easy to assume that this is over reaction because, after all, the amounts of drug found are very small. Yet we have know for some time now that fish in our rivers are turning up feminized. It strikes a little closer to home when we realize that boys are being born in the U.S. with subtle physical evidence of feminization as well, in the form of a decreased distance from the anus to the genital area (the ano-genital distance). OK, I know that sounds somewhat abstract and hard to get a handle on, but it’s a real measurement of developmental change. We think it is happening because of decreased relative testosterone during fetal development.

Girls are starting to develope at age 8 now and boys are developing at a later age than ever before. Again, the possibility of estrogen-testosterone effects.

It is very easy to assume, as we have in the past, that very small amounts of contaminants are not enough to have any effect. But, recent study with other types of contaminants, such as phthalates for instance, show equally significant effects at low and high levels. So, low levels aren’t necessarily safer. Especially when we are exposed repeatedly as with water drinking.

Plus, when we consider how some health problems seem to cluster in particular areas, such as breast cancer in more affluent communities, the phrase “it must be in the water” just might have something to it. For instance, the AP study revealed that San Francisco, an area with a high incidence of breast cancer, had one contaminant: estradiol.

What goes in must come out.

And, in O, The Oprah Magazine, this April 2008 issue, Sara Reistad-Long asks the question, “Is Your Medicine Making You Fat?” Wouldn’t you know, some of the very drugs she looks into are some of the ones in our water. Hmmm.

Let’s get back to some solutions. As the AP story points out, bottled water often comes from tap water and there is no way to know if it is drug free. Running your home water through a reverse osmosis filter is a good solution. The bad side to that is that it wastes a lot of water that becomes polluted with the drug that has been removed. Which then re-enters the water supply. The alternative, in the short term is that the contaminants end up in you. This is not a great all around solution because it is circular, but it brings up the next solutions.

Many pharmacies now have pharmaceutical disposal programs. Pack up all of those unused pills and potions and let someone else do the disposal. You can also contact your city or county. Many have hazardous disposal programs.

Eat organic. An estimated 70% of antibiotic use in the U.S. is in poultry and livestock. If it does not go in, it does not come out. This is a double whammy, because, you end up exposed both in the food product and in the water.

Lastly, for heaven sakes, why, oh why, are we taking so many medications in the first place? I am not saying that pharmaceutical medications do not have their place, but, there are plenty of instances where we can regain our wellness by addressing the root of the problem. We encourage you to find health care providers that will help you do that.

So, yes, the problem is real. But it has solutions. And the solutions will involve you.

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