Cover: Drinking Water
The Silent Spring of the 21st Century? Pharmaceuticals in Our Water
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By Lisa Rainwater, PhD Policy Director, Riverkeeper Inc.
» In the 1960s,
Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking pronouncement that the pesticide DDT was entering the food chain — thereby threatening the health and well-being of entire species — was a wake-up call to both elected officials and the American public. Carson scientifically linked cancers and genetic mutations to years of rampant, unregulated chemical use on our crops and in our environment. Chemical companies launched massive disinformation campaigns against Carson, fomenting fears of increased disease, and insect and vermin infestation. A President’s Science Advisory Committee was formed under the leadership of President John F. Kennedy to examine Carson’s findings — and ultimately affirmed her conclusions. The U.S. government eventually banned DDT. Over the last several decades, a new silent spring has popped onto the global landscape: Copious amounts of pharmaceuticals (controlled and uncontrolled substances) have become standard for people residing in rich and developing
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Waterkeeper Magazine Summer 2008
nations. New medicines have rapidly entered the marketplace to increase fertility, change women’s and men’s hormone levels, cure heart disease, stop a raging migraine, increase growth, immunize against potential diseases, and provide a quality of life to people suffering from mental illness. And while technology has improved the lives of so many, there is an environmental and human health price to our pharmaceutically charged citizenry. Untreated pharmaceutical waste is entering our drinking water supply and our waterways through a variety of sources including wastewater treatment plants, livestock farms and landfills. Humans excrete up to 90 percent of pharmaceuticals ingested and also add to the problem by dumping unused or expired meds down the toilet. Untreated effluent (raw sewage) is a major problem in metropolitan cities such as New York City and has been identified as a contributing factor to the vast increase in endocrine-disrupters entering our environment. www.waterkeeper.org
