Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water Supply

Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water Supply By Amy G oodman, Democra cy Now! Post ed on March 25, 2008, Print ed on Februa ry 13, 2012 http://www.alternet.org/story/80505 /sedatives_and_sex_hormones_in_our_water_supply Editor's Note: Read more about this topic on AlterNet from Wenonah Hauter of Food and Water Watch. AMY GOOD MAN: Saturday was World Water Day, and the United Nations estimates clos e to 1.5 billion people around the world do not have access to clean dr inking water. What abo ut here in the United States? The Associate d Press has conducted an extensive investigation into the drinking water in at least twenty-four major American cities across the country, which contain trace amounts of a wide array of pharmaceuticals. The amounts might be small, but scientists are worried about the long-term health and environmental consequences of their presence in the water supplies of some forty-one million Americans. The five-month investigation of sixty-two metropolitan areas and fifty-one smaller cities found that many drinking water suppliers, includin g bottled water companies , do not even test for the p resence of drugs in the water. The utilities that do test for drugs often don't tell customers about the trace amounts of medications in their water. Jeff Donn is a National Writer for the Associated Press and one of the reporters who led this investigation. He joins us now from Boston. Welcome to Democracy Now!, Jeff. Why don't you start off, why you conducted this extensive five-month investigation? What tipped you off? JEFF DO NN: We were aware that there was some research, mostly in specializ ed technical j ournals, scientif ic j ournals, suggesting that there was this group of emerging contaminants, and one of the contaminants of most concern were pharmaceuticals in very low amounts. They've AlterNet: Sedatives an d Sex Hormones in Ou r Wa t... htt p:/ / www. al tern et .org / module / printversio n/ 80505 1 of 8 13/ 02/ 12 11: 03

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Sedatives and Sex Hormones in Our Water Supply