Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water (and elsewhere?)

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NYC: Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water

Mar 9, 12:45 PM (ET)

By JEFF DONN

NEW YORK (AP) - Locals say this city makes the world's best bagels from the

best water, piped in from rustic reservoirs up to 150 miles north. Yet few

know of a secret ingredient in their source water: a dash of

pharmaceuticals.

Research studies have turned up minute amounts of more than 15 drugs or

their byproducts in several pristine-looking rivers, a reservoir, and

aqueducts feeding the country's biggest water system.

Though barely measurable, these pharmaceuticals are present in a variety

worthy of a medicine cabinet: drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high

blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular

sedative; and caffeine - all bound for the city that never sleeps.

How did they reach waterways? The vast watershed, while mainly rural,

stretches almost from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and encompasses lots of

human activity. Human and veterinary medicines are excreted or discarded,

and eventually enter source waters mostly through residential sewage or farm

runoff.

And while these waters are processed at wastewater treatment plants upstate,

much of the pharmaceutical residue passes right through, studies show.

It's unknown how much lingers each day by the time 1.1 billion gallons reach

the faucets of more than 9 million people in the city and northern suburbs

via a century-old network of aqueducts and tunnels.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which runs the

city's water system, responded to an Associated Press survey of water

utilities, saying it has not tested its drinking water for pharmaceuticals,

despite the findings in its watershed.

The tests that detected pharmaceuticals in the upstate source waters were

conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of

Health.

City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview and issued

only a brief general statement: " New York City's drinking water continues to

meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in

the watershed and the distribution system " - regulations that do not address

pharmaceuticals in trace amounts.

As in other cities, human health risks from trace pharmaceuticals are

uncertain, since concentrations in New York source waters are way below

medical doses and undergo dilution as they mix with fresh water en route to

the city.

Already, though, troubling studies indicate that traces of pharmaceuticals

may be harming fish in New York City's Jamaica Bay, within sight of

Manhattan's skyscrapers. Researcher Anne McElroy at Stony Brook University

has found feminized male flounder there, and she links them to high levels

of the female hormone estrone or other estrogenic chemicals discovered in

the waterway.

Estrogen also has been found in the city's watershed in recent years.

Upstate, the geological survey and state health agency also detected the

heart medicine atenolol; anti-seizure drugs carbamazepine and primidone;

relaxers diazepam and carisoprodol; infection fighters trimethoprim,

clindamycin, and sulfamethoxazole; pain relievers ibuprofen, acetaminophen

and codeine; and remains of caffeine and nicotine.

Despite all that, the federal government considers the New York City system

to be so clean that it need not filter most of its water, as most big cities

are required to do. When the filtering waiver was extended last year, Mayor

R. Bloomberg exulted: " I've always thought that New York City has

some of the best water around, and now we've got confirmation from

Washington. "

However, filtration is meant mainly to remove germs, and the federal

government hasn't required any testing of pharmaceuticals in source or

drinking water. Though it lacks conventional treatment plants with filtering

processes, New York City does disinfect and add chemicals to its drinking

water. Plus, it is building a filtration plant for water from its Croton

watershed - its smallest and closest source.

, a geological survey hydrologist who has studied drugs in

the city's watershed, says recent sewage treatment upgrades probably catch

some, though the systems aren't designed to. The city also is building a

plant to disinfect with ultraviolet radiation the water taken from the

major, upstate sectors of the watershed. Research shows that ultraviolet can

degrade some pharmaceuticals.

" I think both the state and the city are aware that these things could be an

issue and you could be proactive about it, " says.

Few New Yorkers seem aware of their possible presence. The AP contacted more

than two dozen water-testing companies across the metropolitan area, and

none had ever been asked to check for pharmaceuticals.

LeVangie, a sales executive at Simpltek, says even the company's

home water tests for disease-causing germs sell modestly in New York City,

with its global reputation for wholesome water.

-

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[Guest guest]

Here's another good piece, " Are You Allergic To Your Tapwater? " :

http://www.webspawner.com/users/tapwater/index.html

Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water (and elsewhere?)

NYC: Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water

Mar 9, 12:45 PM (ET)

By JEFF DONN

NEW YORK (AP) - Locals say this city makes the world's best bagels from the

best water, piped in from rustic reservoirs up to 150 miles north. Yet few

know of a secret ingredient in their source water: a dash of

pharmaceuticals.

Research studies have turned up minute amounts of more than 15 drugs or

their byproducts in several pristine-looking rivers, a reservoir, and

aqueducts feeding the country's biggest water system.

Though barely measurable, these pharmaceuticals are present in a variety

worthy of a medicine cabinet: drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high

blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular

sedative; and caffeine - all bound for the city that never sleeps.

How did they reach waterways? The vast watershed, while mainly rural,

stretches almost from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and encompasses lots of

human activity. Human and veterinary medicines are excreted or discarded,

and eventually enter source waters mostly through residential sewage or farm

runoff.

And while these waters are processed at wastewater treatment plants upstate,

much of the pharmaceutical residue passes right through, studies show.

It's unknown how much lingers each day by the time 1.1 billion gallons reach

the faucets of more than 9 million people in the city and northern suburbs

via a century-old network of aqueducts and tunnels.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which runs the

city's water system, responded to an Associated Press survey of water

utilities, saying it has not tested its drinking water for pharmaceuticals,

despite the findings in its watershed.

The tests that detected pharmaceuticals in the upstate source waters were

conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of

Health.

City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview and issued

only a brief general statement: " New York City's drinking water continues to

meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in

the watershed and the distribution system " - regulations that do not address

pharmaceuticals in trace amounts.

As in other cities, human health risks from trace pharmaceuticals are

uncertain, since concentrations in New York source waters are way below

medical doses and undergo dilution as they mix with fresh water en route to

the city.

Already, though, troubling studies indicate that traces of pharmaceuticals

may be harming fish in New York City's Jamaica Bay, within sight of

Manhattan's skyscrapers. Researcher Anne McElroy at Stony Brook University

has found feminized male flounder there, and she links them to high levels

of the female hormone estrone or other estrogenic chemicals discovered in

the waterway.

Estrogen also has been found in the city's watershed in recent years.

Upstate, the geological survey and state health agency also detected the

heart medicine atenolol; anti-seizure drugs carbamazepine and primidone;

relaxers diazepam and carisoprodol; infection fighters trimethoprim,

clindamycin, and sulfamethoxazole; pain relievers ibuprofen, acetaminophen

and codeine; and remains of caffeine and nicotine.

Despite all that, the federal government considers the New York City system

to be so clean that it need not filter most of its water, as most big cities

are required to do. When the filtering waiver was extended last year, Mayor

R. Bloomberg exulted: " I've always thought that New York City has

some of the best water around, and now we've got confirmation from

Washington. "

However, filtration is meant mainly to remove germs, and the federal

government hasn't required any testing of pharmaceuticals in source or

drinking water. Though it lacks conventional treatment plants with filtering

processes, New York City does disinfect and add chemicals to its drinking

water. Plus, it is building a filtration plant for water from its Croton

watershed - its smallest and closest source.

, a geological survey hydrologist who has studied drugs in

the city's watershed, says recent sewage treatment upgrades probably catch

some, though the systems aren't designed to. The city also is building a

plant to disinfect with ultraviolet radiation the water taken from the

major, upstate sectors of the watershed. Research shows that ultraviolet can

degrade some pharmaceuticals.

" I think both the state and the city are aware that these things could be an

issue and you could be proactive about it, " says.

Few New Yorkers seem aware of their possible presence. The AP contacted more

than two dozen water-testing companies across the metropolitan area, and

none had ever been asked to check for pharmaceuticals.

LeVangie, a sales executive at Simpltek, says even the company's

home water tests for disease-causing germs sell modestly in New York City,

with its global reputation for wholesome water.

-

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Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)