VitalAccurateThinking

Drugs in drinking water?

I always suspected drugs in the water supply to our corporate headquarters, but now I have proof:

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, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose.

Actually, this is a story with undertones aimed straight at the chemical industry and the press-fueled fear factory.

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.

Yes. It is the AP's aim to unduly alarm the public and take aim at the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Industries that havs saved hundreds of millions of lives and made the lives of billions possible.

The article ends with this scaremongering quote:

"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany.

The "that can't be good" statement is the last refuge of a fool. It is not even scientific. Minute quantities could be bad. They could be good. Most likely, they are innocuous.

But, the bottom line is fear mongering works to sell newspapers. So it will continue and the chemical industry will continue to spend billions counteracting it or, more likely, not fund research into new and better ways to serve humanity. Now that is truly scary.

posted by Jim VAT @ 5:58 PM