Green Jersey

Hearing will address drugs found in N.J. water

Sen. Frank Lautenberg announced yesterday that he and California Sen. Barbara Boxer plan to hold an oversight hearing regarding the traces of pharmaceutical drugs found in the water of 41 million people across the country.

New Jersey was named in an Associated Press investigation yesterday that found traces of drugs in 24 major metropolitan areas and 28 of 35 watersheds it tested. The drugs — antibiotics, anti-convulsants, sex hormones, ibuprofen and others — were found in tiny quantities, the AP said, and utility companies insisted their water is safe. Still, this is troubling.

The federal government doesn’t require drinking water to be tested for drugs and sets no guidelines for the levels of drugs in our water.

Drugs enter the water when we take them and they are flushed out of our systems, and also when people flush old pills down the toilet (a bad idea!).

Leave it to the Guardian to point out:

The use of pharmaceuticals has soared in the US, with a 12% rise over the last five years in pharmaceutical prescriptions, to 3.7 billion.

Sens. Lautenberg and Boxer will most likely hold their hearing early next month.