Drugs in our drinking water!

Wow! We really are all connected!
An Associated Press investigation found that a vast array of pharmaceuticals _ including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones _ have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/10/sex-hormones-mood-stabil_n_90714.html)

More from the report:

"How do the drugs get into the water? People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue. And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies _ which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public _ have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife."

Oh, yeah, and there's further evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.

What's fascinating about this to me is the reality that this story highlights - we're all inextricably connected to each other. If some portions of our population are numbing themselves, trashing their immune systems or throwing their hormonal balance out of whack, it's happening to all of us. Wow! There's a twisted kind of harmony in that, don't you think?