Drugs in our Drinking Water?



Consider this:

a. Americans are prescribed over 235 million doses of antibiotics each year.

b. Livestock and poultry are given another 21 million pounds of antibiotics per year.

c. Add to that, millions of doses of antidepressants, anticancer drugs, hormones, steroids, non steroidals, anti-hypertensives, and anti-cholesterols?

Up to 90% of the active ingredients of these drugs are returned to the environment unchanged, and end up in the ground water, soil and drinking water.

What are the implications for the environment, wildlife and us humans?
Who knows? No one has looked.

But we know they are there.

The US Geological Survey found that in 139 streams tested in 30 states, 80% were contaminated with antibiotics, steroids, synthetic hormones or other drugs, and half contained seven or more compounds.

Consequences?

1. Antibiotic resistant bacteria – according to the CDC, there are 2 million nosocomial infections each year resulting in 90,000 deaths. More than 70% of these infections are caused by bacteria that were resistant to first line antibiotics.

2. Anti-depressants alter breeding patterns in wild animals by altering serotonin levels. Long term effect? No one knows.

3. Hormones (from birth control pills, etc.) cause feminization of males, premature puberty in females, infertility, low sperm counts and birth defects.

This is not a small problem. Interestingly, today in the park by our house I saw a father and his two children playing in the grass. The younger child was a girl, about 5-7 years old. She had no shirt on. I was taken aback to see that she already had noticeable breast development. Why? See #3 above.

Health comes from healthy organic food, pure water, sunshine, adequate sleep, and healthy relationships.

Drugs, while sometimes necessary in emergencies, are never a long term solution in restoring health, and only lead to damage to the person taking them and to the greater population.

You have choices about your health. Those choices include who you seek health care advice from, and what their paradigm is in helping you to continue or restore your health. Those decisions affect not only your immediate health, but also the long term future and health of all the living organisms on this planet.

Chose intelligently and chose nutrition and supplements over drugs.