# What's in your water?



## Bob Hubbard (Mar 10, 2008)

I am so not surprised.



> *                                         AP probe finds drugs in drinking water *
> 
> By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press Writers                                  _Sun Mar  9,  1:00 PM ET_
> 
> 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.


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## Makalakumu (Mar 10, 2008)

Yup, its getting so bad that fish are starting to change sex from male to female.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 10, 2008)

I read this yesterday and it is a bit scary, especially since they referenced NYC water supply in upstate..... Guess how close that is to me 

So first Acid rain from NYC attacks the Adirondacks and now Meds from the Adirondacks attack NYC.... Irony?

But are attacking all of us in the process


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## terryl965 (Mar 10, 2008)

Drugs drugs and more drugs just like yours.


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## Bob Hubbard (Mar 10, 2008)

And I used to be worried about pee in the water.  Sheesh. Give em 20 more years and they'll go "oh yeah, we kinda screwed ourselves, everythings contaminated, sorry."

So, anyone know which (if any) bottled water companies do filter for this crap?


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## CoryKS (Mar 10, 2008)

I'm okay with it, as long as it's not _too_ pulpy.


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## terryl965 (Mar 10, 2008)

Bob Hubbard said:


> And I used to be worried about pee in the water. Sheesh. Give em 20 more years and they'll go "oh yeah, we kinda screwed ourselves, everythings contaminated, sorry."
> 
> So, anyone know which (if any) bottled water companies do filter for this crap?


 
Bob that I know of none of them. Who needs meds. when it is in your daily water supply.


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## Empty Hands (Mar 10, 2008)

As the toxicologists say, "the dose makes the poison."  How _much_ drug was found in the water, and how close was it to an effective dose?  My guess: nowhere near, and the amounts found were so tiny they needed non-standard tests to pick it up.

Think of it this way.  Grab a handful of soil.  In all likelihood, there are at least a few picomoles or femtomoles of arsenic, lead, and uranium in that handful.  Yet, that handful is completely safe to handle, or even eat if you felt so inclined.


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## Bob Hubbard (Mar 10, 2008)

And many kids have tried that in fact.  MMMMM mud pie.


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## Archangel M (Mar 10, 2008)

Empty Hands said:


> As the toxicologists say, "the dose makes the poison." How _much_ drug was found in the water, and how close was it to an effective dose? My guess: nowhere near, and the amounts found were so tiny they needed non-standard tests to pick it up.
> 
> Think of it this way. Grab a handful of soil. In all likelihood, there are at least a few picomoles or femtomoles of arsenic, lead, and uranium in that handful. Yet, that handful is completely safe to handle, or even eat if you felt so inclined.


 

What he said. This is nothing but more "make news" of a study some scientist types did to justify their reasearch grant money.

People never seem to be content unless they are crying the sky is falling over something.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 10, 2008)

Archangel M said:


> People never seem to be content unless they are crying the sky is falling over something.


 
 The SKY is falling :jaw-dropping: :anic: :uhyeah:


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## Brian R. VanCise (Mar 10, 2008)

Funny thing is that it is not just water but also in the meet that we eat.  There was a CAFU that tried to come in around Alma and after reading how much antibiotics they used it almost made me swear off eating pork.\
(Still I like bacon to much 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





)


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## Bodhisattva (Mar 10, 2008)

Bob Hubbard said:


> I am so not surprised.



A pitcher with a filter in the lid is a great investment.

Probably doesn't remove the pharma though..


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## Bob Hubbard (Mar 10, 2008)

Nope, it don't. But it still gets a ton of other stuff out.


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## Big Don (Mar 10, 2008)

I live in a farming area, I shudder to think what is in the water here.


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## Makalakumu (Mar 10, 2008)

What do you do when you are so disgusted with your society and the refuse it discards that you can no longer stand it?


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## Archangel M (Mar 10, 2008)

Jump off a cliff into the sea and feed the little fishies.


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## Makalakumu (Mar 10, 2008)

Archangel M said:


> Jump off a cliff into the sea and feed the little fishies.


 
Nice.

Really though.  What do you do?  Especially when you know the society is unsustainable and heading toward oblivion?

The information that Bob posted is part and parcel of this view.  Yet, NO ONE CARES!!!!  Not a single presidential, congressional, judicial candidate, its just sad.  

Have we been so dumbed down that this stuff doesn't even matter any more?

Are we really "consumers" rather then "individuals"?


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 10, 2008)

upnorthkyosa said:


> Nice.
> 
> Really though. What do you do? Especially when you know the society is unsustainable and heading toward oblivion?
> 
> ...


 
I guess you sit back and wait for the second coming of The Younger Dryas and at the same time hope it doesn't happen


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## Makalakumu (Mar 10, 2008)

So, are we just waiting for the downfall?  Is it inevitable?  Or does some elite organization have a plan...

Georgia Guidestones


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 10, 2008)

upnorthkyosa said:


> So, are we just waiting for the downfall? Is it inevitable? Or does some elite organization have a plan...
> 
> Georgia Guidestones


 
Actually I do not know what to do to make it better at this point I am just hoping it is not to late and I do not want to go off post so as to the Meds in the water it is, at least at this point not much of a concentration but I still have to wonder about interactions even in small amounts


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## Makalakumu (Mar 10, 2008)

The level it is today won't be what it is in the future.  Male fish today are transforming into female fish.  Lesson:  The longer and more intensely you are exposed, the more the effects will be...


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 10, 2008)

upnorthkyosa said:


> The level it is today won't be what it is in the future. Male fish today are transforming into female fish. Lesson: The longer and more intensely you are exposed, the more the effects will be...


 
Like most things that have been messed up by humans. If we stopped today, this very minute, the levels would still climb for some time. 

And the only thing I garauntee is we (Humans) will not stop right now, this very minute or anytime soon.


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## Archangel M (Mar 11, 2008)

Every generation has been awaiting the Apocolypse. As far back as the time of Christ at least. We seem to crave it.


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## cdunn (Mar 12, 2008)

Empty Hands said:


> As the toxicologists say, "the dose makes the poison." How _much_ drug was found in the water, and how close was it to an effective dose? My guess: nowhere near, and the amounts found were so tiny they needed non-standard tests to pick it up.
> 
> Think of it this way. Grab a handful of soil. In all likelihood, there are at least a few picomoles or femtomoles of arsenic, lead, and uranium in that handful. Yet, that handful is completely safe to handle, or even eat if you felt so inclined.


 


> 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.


 
To put this in a more intuitive quantity, let's take 100 parts per trillion of Advil. 100 parts per trillion is one pill per 50,000 gallons of water. 1 per billion is one pill per 5,000 gallons of water. 10 parts per billion is one pill in 500 gallons. You intake in the vicinity of 350-500 gallons per year. 

Doesn't sound so bad, until you roll around to the mood stabilizers and hormones. Prozac at 1 part per billion is one pill per 500 gallons. Corticosteriods are administered at similiar dosages. The truly worrisome part to me is actually the sex hormones, likely from birth control pills and similar. While I am unable to trace out the full requirements with readily available info, they require dosings many, many times lower than the majority of medications, indicating a high potency within the body. 

Panic time? No, but we need to recognize the hazard, and start to handle it now, before it becomes panic time. We need to start taking better care of our discharges into nature, and probably need to start recycling water. The problem there is that it's rather energy intensive to do so. There are a ton of things that need to be done in the medical industry to combat this too, like preferential use of fully metabolized drugs, less over prescription, etc.

Who knows what it'll take to make something like that happen, though.


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