Q. I recently read about drugs found in the drinking water. Do I need to be worried?
A: According to James D. Adams, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences at the USC School of Pharmacy, the trace amounts of the drugs found in water is, at this point, so small that effects in the human body are negligible. “The long-term effects in humans of very low levels of drugs in the water is not known,” he says. “However, many people take these drugs daily in therapeutic amounts and do not suffer from chronic toxic effects.” Most drugs are found in trace amounts in our water due to recycling from sewage treatment plants. Adams says that it is likely that many drugs resist sewage treatment processes, in small amounts. He advises that consumers who are worried filter their water through carbon filters and similar devices that remove organic impurities from water. In addition, Adams suggests that state and local governments monitor drug levels in water the same way they monitor pesticide levels in water.
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