In 2008 the U.S. Geological Survey tested water in nine states across the country and found that 85 man-made chemicals -- including birth control medications -- were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems and ending up in our tap water.
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Dear EarthTalk: Is there any truth to the rumor about high levels of birth control chemicals being found in some cities’ drinking water? If so can these be filtered out?
-- Elizabeth Yerkes, via email
It is true that trace amounts of birth control and other medications—as well as household and industrial chemicals of every stripe—are present in many urban and suburban water supplies around the country, but there is considerable debate about whether their levels are high enough to warrant concern.
In 2008 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) tested water in nine states across the country and found that 85 man-made chemicals, including some medications, were commonly slipping through municipal treatment systems and ending up in our tap water. Another report by the Associated Press found trace amounts of dozens of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water supplies of some 46 million Americans.
But according to USGS, such chemicals and medications are so diluted—at levels equal to a thimble full of water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool—that they do not pose a health threat. But others aren’t so sure. Researchers have found evidence that even extremely diluted concentrations of drug residues harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species, and have been shown to labs to impair human cell function.
One of the common culprits is estrogen, much of which is inadvertently released into sewers through the urine of women taking birth control. Studies have shown that estrogen can wreak reproductive havoc on some fish, which spawn infertile offspring sporting a mixture of male and female parts. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that human breast cancer cells grew twice as fast when exposed to estrogen taken from catfish caught near untreated sewage overflows. “There is the potential for an increased risk for those people who are prone to estrogenic cancer,” said Conrad Volz, lead researcher on the study.
What may be more troubling is the mixture of contaminants and how they might interact to cause health problems. “The biggest concern is the stew effect,” says Scott Dye of the Sierra Club’s Water Sentinels program. “Trace amounts of this mixed with trace amounts of that can equal what? We don’t know.”
With such contaminants proving elusive to municipal filtration systems, the burden of protection often lies with the end user. But getting traces of birth control and other drugs out of your tap water isn’t so easy. Of the many different kinds of in-home water filtration systems available today, only those employing reverse osmosis have been shown to filter out some drugs. Some makers of activated carbon water filters claim their products catch pharmaceuticals, but independent research has not verified such claims.
“The best choice,” says Cathy Sherman of the natural health website Natural News, “would probably be a combination of a reverse osmosis filter augmented by pre- and post-activated carbon filters.” Installing such a system just for drinking water is sufficient, she says, given that water used for cleaning and plumbing doesn’t typically get ingested. As to prevention, the non-profit public health and safety agency, NSF International, urges individuals to not use their toilets or sinks to dispose of unused medications and to opt for the garbage instead; most modern landfills are lined to keep such contaminants inside.
CONTACTS: USGS Water Resources, water.usgs.gov; Sierra Club, www.sierraclub.org/watersentinels; NSF International, www.nsf.org; Natural News, www.naturalnews.com.
EarthTalk is produced by E/The Environmental Magazine. SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.
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11 Comments
Add CommentAlthough might consider to err on the side of caution, it can be devestating to an existing overregulated industry. Many systems struggle to find the funding to comply with existing mandates much less future speculations about possible health concerns. With the ever decreasing supply of potable water and lawsuits brought about water rights, many municipalities and water districts are facing insurmountable challanges.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile this may be of concern, monies spent may be better allocated to greater problems with greater returns on health.
I would recommend a simple activated carbon filter. Change this at three to six months minimum. Carbon filters are harbors for bacteria if you do not change them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo not go overboard treating your tap water that meets or exceeds state and federal regulations.
Bottled water does not meet the regulations that tap water has to meet. Bottled water requires tons of plastic that has to be recycled or ends in landfills.
If people want to be climate-ready, have their own power supply, clean filtered RAINWATER supply, and own sewerage treatment and part (or all) of their own food supply, one can't go past the earth-ship.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship
If they can have ample water needs met down there in the desert of New Mexico, and have a luxuriously comfortable house with no heating or cooling bills, then surely this kind of off-the-grid home system needs to be considered for more mainstream suburbs and city developments? It's time to think out-of-the-box and solve MULTIPLE problems at once.
it's not coming from people flushing pills down the toilet. Most drugs pass through the human body with some amount left unmetabolized - in some cases *most* of the drug is unmetabolized. The solution would be to not use the toilet for its intended purpose!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we used composting toilets it might stop these chemicals from getting into our water supply, but it would be in the soil. Perhaps one solution would be to find a way to get the body to absorb more of the medication so that less is secreted. It would also make the required dosages less, potentially reducing the cost of the medications.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAren't hormones most effective at super low concentrations in the body to begin with?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf that is the case, males would be absorbing more estrogen/progesterone. Male sperm count has been steadily decreasing...
With the ever increasing population, environment devastation and all sort of problems this method, soon, can be the solution to birth control. For the benefit of all.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAren't humans naturally secreting hormones naturally? I believe my own body, well into menopause, still secretes hormones, not at same levels of a younger woman, but still...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd also, many many species of fish start their life in sexual ambiguity, either simultaneous or protogynous hermaphrodites. Not saying that the excess chemicals from our waste doesn't interfere, but don't blame these chemicals for all fish sex changes, they are natural.
So, if a female who was currently prescribed a form of birth control, would one person avoiding excreting urine in toilets to avoid adding more hormones to the water supply really make any substantial dent in this problem? Probably not, so why forego using the toilet for its intended purpose? Even if a small group of people (females) who took birth control avoided using the toilet in order to keep from further deteriorating the water supply, would that really make any form of difference in comparison to the entirety of the female population who uses birth control? Makes me feel a little cynical about it all. I am going to immediately run out and change the filter on the Pur on my tap, however.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMost reverse osmosis systems usually come with pre and post filters that are carbon filters, and these <a href="http://www.aquasafecanada.com">reverse osmosis</a> systems actually purify the water and remove just about everything from the water. The above comments about regular filters will not protect you from what is in your water. Don't waste your money replacing these filters as you are still exposed, regardless of their claims.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi - I would like to share with you one of the article I found on the net, which is very good :-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt lists all potential side-effects of using hormonal pills and IUDs - including that they act as abortifacients, as while using them you can still have breakthrough ovulation, which occurs in millions of women each year. You can still conceive a baby, who because of synthetic hormones cannot attach to the uterine lining and dies! Please find some more facts below only to relation to pregancy not including whole body side-effects....
Pregnancy:
Typical use of combined oral contraceptive pills prevents a diagnosed pregnancy in only 90 to 96 percent of women, which means that four to 10 women out of every 100 using the pill for one year will have a diagnosed pregnancy
Hormonal pills and some other “birth control’ methods like intrauterine device (IUD) very often act as abortifacients – while using them, you can still have “breakthrough ovulation”, which occurs in millions of women each year. You can still conceive a baby, who because of synthetic hormones cannot attach to the uterine lining and dies!
The pill’s third mechanism is to change the lining of the endometrium (the lining of the womb), which creates a hostile environment for a newly created human being. The tiny baby cannot implant and is spontaneously aborted by the body
ps. similar mechanism works in case of IUD, like Mirena, etc
As quoted in the booklet “Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?” by Randy Alcorn, a representative of the Ortho-McNeil pharmaceutical company said, “If you end up with a fertilized egg [new human being], it [the baby boy or girl] won’t implant and grow because of the less hospitable endometrium.”
”It seems unlikely that implantation would be possible in the altered endometrium developed under the influence of most of the suppressants [of ovulation]
Ectopic pregnancy
Some drugs that are known to interact with the pill to cause an increased likelihood of pregnancy including certain antybiothics
St. John’s wort
Impact on Reproductive Organs
Breakthrough bleeding
Breast changes: tenderness, enlargement, secretion
Change in cervical erosion and secretion
Vaginal candidiasis (yeast infection)
Cystitis-like syndrome (frequent urination, sometimes with a painful bladder)
Vaginitis (inflammation of the vaginal area)
Cancer (breast, uterine and vaginal)
Endometriosis
Full article and many more interesting facts can be found on: www.thepillkills.org and http://nfpsite.aldred.org/choosing.php
Cheers