Disturbances in the Field

The story that broke this week about the detection of pharmaceuticals in the water supply is just another scary turn in what seems to be a host of disturbing developments on the environmental front lately. The massive beef recall. More spinach scares. In every story, we look for something to feel good about, to maybe reassure ourselves, "it won't affect me." But there is something about water - it is indeed the great equalizer. We all need it, we all get it from different places, and yet the contamination is all permeating. It is found even in bottled water, in the US, Europe, and worldwide. Antibiotics in Tucson, sex hormones in San Francisco, mood stabilizers and anticonvulsives in New York, and anti anxiety medicines in southern California, are just some of the findings, and although it's only "trace amounts," I do not find this reassuring, do you? According to the AP story, "recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation. Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life – such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show."

Why are we only hearing about this now? It's time that the government began regulating the water supply for these toxic elements as well as expanding its testing, before we all become test tube trials.