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I made a thread about this a while ago but since its been headlined again here it goes:
This is an excerpt of the whole story
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals intowaterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Pressinvestigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramicsand treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S.manufacturers because no one tracks them - as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the governmentunintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, APidentified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodiesof water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, thefigure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's beingfound in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policyabout whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.
Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, moodstabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in American drinking water supplies.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don'tabsorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packagingare thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090419/PharmaWater.Factories/
I think I was talking to a Bio major on here about this a while ago, cant remember his name. We are our own worse enemy.
This is an excerpt of the whole story
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals intowaterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Pressinvestigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramicsand treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
Federal and industry officials say they don't know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S.manufacturers because no one tracks them - as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the governmentunintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.
As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, APidentified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodiesof water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The data don't show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, thefigure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking.
To date, drugmakers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what's beingfound in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.
But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a 'don't ask, don't tell' policyabout whether drugmakers are contributing to water pollution.
Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, moodstabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in American drinking water supplies.
Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don'tabsorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packagingare thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090419/PharmaWater.Factories/
I think I was talking to a Bio major on here about this a while ago, cant remember his name. We are our own worse enemy.
