Concerned about Drugs in Your
Drinking Water?
The Associated Press recently reported[1],
in typical dramatic fashion, the results of their
investigation where various studies detected low levels
of a variety of pharmaceutical drugs in 24 major U.S.
cities’ water supplies. The report states these drugs
consist of common over the counter drugs like Ibuprofen
and Acetaminophen as well as a number of varieties of
prescription drugs. The report goes on to explain these
drugs are expelled from the body during normal waste
elimination, get treated in local municipal wastewater
treatment plants and are ultimately discharged into our
environment where they turn up in dilute quantities in
the raw water supplies that our local water treatment
plants use to produce our tap water. The report also
states that our local water treatment plants are unable
to remove most of these compounds and some end up in our
final drinking water although in extremely low
concentrations (i.e., parts per trillion to parts per
billion).
The news report also states that health risks of
consuming these low levels of pharmaceuticals are
unknown… this is true. Finally, it states that home
filtered water and bottled water that comes from
municipal supplies (over 25% of all bottled water in the
U.S. comes from a tap water source[2])
may not be safe. This statement leaves the reader with
the impression that these drugs might still get into our
bodies even though we use conventional filtration
systems on our homes.
The truth is that national testing laboratories are
still developing the standards and testing equipment
required to detect and identify these compounds. Until
they do, no one can make a definitive statement that
their filtration products remove these compounds. That
is the reason the report states, “…users of bottled
water and home filtration systems don’t necessarily
avoid exposure.”
The good news is that while testing standards are as
of yet unavailable, based off our current knowledge we
believe that many of these pharmaceutical compounds will
be reduced by the latest carbon-block technologies, such
as those used in the Wellness Filter®. The Wellness
Filter has already been tested to reduce a broad
spectrum of organic compounds and chlorinated organics
(also known as chlorinated hydrocarbons). Once testing
standards are available for pharmaceuticals and their
byproducts we will be able to validate and make a formal
claim.
Our Wellness Filter product line is designed to give
you the best drinking and bathing water available. As
our trademark states, “The best quality of water on
earth… could be your faucet.”
[1] Jeff Donn, Martha
Mendoza, Justin Pritchard, “AP probe finds drugs in
drinking water,” Mar 10, 12:08 PM EDT
[2] Jemmot, Janet Majeski, “Chemicals,
Contaminants, Pollution, Price: New Reasons to Rethink
What You Drink,” United States Environmental Protection
Agency, November 2007
