Talk About Spin!

I received a report today that confirmed what I've known for quite some time; that almost all water supplies in the Western World are already contaminated with dilute drugs.

Of course, as usual, 'authorities' are telling us that there is no harm in contuinually ingesting hormones, anticancer and other drugs for years on end. But when I heard today that one of the 'authorities' is saying that having these drugs in our water supply may be beneficial because it may impede microbial growth, I think I just met the 'King of Spin'. Give the man a medal!

Don't worry about the free chemo in every glass, be happy because it kills bugs in your water!

Yeah. Right.

..and while I'm on the subject,

Not only are trace pharmaceuticals in the water a problem for humans, but they also are a problem for fish and wildlife — and have been for some time, says a March 11 Associated Press story.

The story, which offers a summary of research dating back to at least 2003 on the link between pharmaceutical contaminants in water systems and wildlife health, was written by The AP National Investigative Team — the same folks who reported on trace pharmaceuticals in US drinking waters.

“It’s inescapable,” said Sudeep Chandra, an assistant professor at the University of Nevada, in the article. “There’s enough global information now to confirm these contaminants are affecting organisms and wildlife.”

Fish, for example, are experiencing low levels of sex steroids, limited testicular function and low sperm count. Some male fish are becoming “feminized,” producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females, the article said.

Ah, but ask an expert, it won't hurt us because we're not fish!

This is neither a new or newly discovered problem for at least one young person, as a story in the March 10 Wheeling newspaper The Intelligencer has pointed out.

In August 2000, 17-year-old West Virginia high school student Ashley Mulroy won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize as well as a West Virginia state science prize for studying this very problem, as WaterTech Online™ reported.

After reading a news story in 1998 about European scientists who had discovered drugs in their water supply, Mulroy decided, with the aid of her mother, to test her own tap water as well as water from the nearby Ohio River, says The Intelligencer. The testing became a school science project, and Mulroy found traces of three antibiotics — penicillin, tetracycline, and vancomycin — in the water.

Her work earned her the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in 2000.
Ashley is now a student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, the story said.