Water safety

THE ISSUE

Traces of pharmaceuticals can be found in much of the nation's drinking water supplies.

An 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, according to a five-month study by The Associated Press.

The concentrations of the drugs are very small, and utilities insist their water is safe. But having so many prescription and over-the-counter medications in drinking water is worrying scientists about the long-term consequences to human health.

Researchers do not know the exact risks from long-term exposure to low levels of pharmaceuticals, but some studies have found an effect on human cells and wildlife.

The drug presence in water comes from a variety of sources, including human waste, animals and the disposal of unused medicines.

Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency recognizes that the presence of drugs in water supplies is a growing concern and takes it very seriously.

But the federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set any safety limits for drugs in water. Few local utilities do any testing for drug presence, and some say it would be very difficult to do so because of the wide array of drugs on the market.

The EPA says it has launched a program to identify the extent of the problem and to increase dialogue and awareness with water providers and state and local agencies. But none of the EPA efforts has any regulatory effort behind it.

We don't mean to be alarmists, and we're pretty certain that there is no serious problem today with the nation's drinking water. But we share the concern of scientists about the general lack of knowledge about the issue and the lack of testing.

We think the government needs to move more quickly to determine the extent of the problem and determine what, if anything, needs to be done about it. It's not something that will be easily fixed once the water supplies are contaminated to an extent that the nation has health issues.