Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Danger About Drugs in Our Drinking Water

By Kevin Scott

I was enraged after reading about this.According to an article in the ONearth Online Literary Journal, traces of eighty two different contaminants were found in surface water all across the country. Different types of prescription drugs such as hormones, narcotics, and high blood pressure medication were found as well as fertilizers and other chemicals. These tests were conducted using highly sensitive testing equipment.

I felt I needed to know more about this so I did some more research on the internet about this issue. I was concerned enough to want to know more about what we are drinking in our water every day. I also wondered if this could be absorbed through the skin when we bath or shower. What I found out made me decide to look into water filtration systems for the home. We need to keep ourselves safe from the dangers of these contaminates. We also need to think about what we can do to help keep these substances from harming the environment.

The documented research on the net points to the free-flowing of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, pesticides and other contaminates points to questions that we must answer. Questions such as, what environmental impacts will this have today and in the future?

Frogs have been found with too many legs and various other defects and strange abnormalities. Fish, amphibians, and plants that live in our waters are examples of the effect a polluted environment can have on the biological development of all life forms. It could be bad news for us because we drink and bathe in this water every day. We also consume the fish and plants that have absorbed these contaminates.

We have used many of these chemicals and prescriptions for a lot of years, so why are we just hearing about it now? Simple because in earlier days they did not have the technology they have today to detect most of these toxins. Groups from Europe, the United States, and university students were involved in making the media and certain officials aware of this issue.

Lower levels of the following chemicals were found in the water; hormones, birth control, antibiotics, mood stabilizers, calcium blockers and other prescription drugs, pain killers, and over the counter drugs.

Our bodies do not always absorb all the medicines we take, the rest is flushed down the toilet and makes its way back into our water supply. In addition to these, mercury, arsenic, PCB's, DDT, and DES are found with many new ones being discovered every year.

The frustrating thing about it is that they can all be removed; however the water plants either don't want to do it or do not have the money to do so. Our sewer water is filtered and treated with chemicals to make it safe to drink. The drugs, pesticides and other contaminates remain, in addition to the chemicals used to treat it.

The water then comes back to our homes for us to use or is bottled and sold to us will little else done to purify it. Some is sent back into the environment to our wells, rivers and streams.

The only solution to this growing problem is to protect yourself at the only water source you can control. In addition to safely disposing of unused medication in other ways, you can also filter the water you use in your home and garden.

You can find a system to filter your water that will take out most of the toxins in your water. You can get the ones to filter your whole water system or just put one on your faucet. You may even want to install one on every faucet in the house for maximum protection.

The activated carbon type filter is one of the most effective as it filters out more impurities than some of the other types. The ones with the membrane filter are the next best in effectiveness. These are the ones you have to change the filter on or it will stop filtering anything out of your water.

The only way to be sure is to purchase home water testing kits or take your tap water to a certified testing facility to find out what is in it. A task that should be preformed regularly to make sure your home water filters are doing their job. - 15634

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