Drug's found in drinking water!

[alpinerabbit]

Aren't you supposed to bring them back to the pharmacy?
Then again what do they do?

[SadieKate]

Recommendation for disposal--
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/...07/022007.html

Efficacy and safety beyond the expiration date--
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/460159

[Triskeliongirl]

Its not just disposal of unused drugs. It also comes from the fact that we urinate out much of the drugs and metabolites of the drugs we takes as well, and that ends up contimainating the water supply. In fact I think this is the major source.

[Mr. Bloom]

Its not just disposal of unused drugs. It also comes from the fact that we urinate out much of the drugs and metabolites of the drugs we takes as well, and that ends up contimainating the water supply. In fact I think this is the major source.

And I find this of greater concern...hmmm, what's worse...I'm drinking trace amounts of prescription drugs or trace amounts of P!$$

[SadieKate]

According to the late Dale Lott, Professor Emeritus of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis, and the beloved neighbor of Bubba and SadieKate:

Bacterial digestion of plant materials is a common process with a common name -- fermentation. And although bacteria are simple as life forms go, their chemistry is complex, and fermentation produces a complex outcome. They not only change cellulose to usable carbohydrates but also produce volatile fatty acids. Both are concentrated energy in a form bison can use. They are gas from grass that makes the animal's heart beat and its feet move. Like all living things, these fermentation bacteria have waste products, which include alcohol. It's a sobering fact that 12 or 13 percent of a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne is bacteria pee.

Ah, I miss Dale.

[Triskeliongirl]

Remember, biological wastes do go through sewage treatment plants before the water is returned to our water supplies (reservoirs, lakes, etc). However, it appears that while this removes all the gross stuff you associate with human waste, the drugs are very small molecules often not removed, or removed completely, by normal sewage treaments.

[tulip]

There are just some things that are not worth worrying about.