Thoughts on trace amounts of benzos in the water supply

[[Cr...]]

I swear I'm not paranoid, just wondering if anyone else has given this some thought and how it could be affecting recovery. http://www.salon.com/2013/03/14/your_tap_water_is_probably_laced_with_anti_depressants_partner/

 

[[Di...]]

IMO, these kinds of stories are written by bored journalists on a slow news day. Mostly they take some kind of obscure report and then completely misrepresent it. There are a lot of them out there - "men are becoming more feminised because of birth control and hormone therapies in the water", not to mention the good old "we're all going to die because of the fluoride in our water" campaign.

 

There are probably all sorts of things in our water, but we're all still surviving quite well. We haven't all developed some kind of horrible disease or affliction. Even those who want to be completely OTT paranoid and buy bottled water still won't be any better off, because a lot of these companies that sell bottled water are just using regular tap water anyway.

[[Cr...]]

I didn't mean it in terms of the general public, just oversensitized buddies. In theory it COULD make a difference.

[[Qu...]]

It's possible CP. I'm more worried about the edible plastic in McDonald's bread.

[[Ch...]]

I wouldn't eat anything from McDonald's.  GMO wonderland.

[[Qu...]]

At least the "edible" plastic is not a GMO .....   

[[La...]]

Reverse Osmosis purification of water is a very effective method for removing trace impurities.

[[Cr...]]

I didn't start this thread cause its an acutal FEAR, just bored suffering and wanted to talk lol....Wow Challis, McDonalds, can't even remember the last time I had that....The only junk I've eaten in the past 8 or 9 months is the small scoop of sugar and french vanilla in my decaf coffee lol

[[be...]]

I wouldn't eat anything from McDonald's.  GMO wonderland.

 

 

The last time I remember eating at McDonald's was for my 12th birthday....They aren't even allowed in our town. Planning and Zoning says Thank God for that!

[[Te...]]

A lot of people throw benzo prescriptions into the toilet after use, so that could be some of the reason that amounts are found in water. They aren't supposed to be dumped into toilets. However, I ended up doing that myself after I finished my taper. I called various places and kept getting the runaround, and I finally gave up. The last place I went to, they wanted to ID me. Every six months in my city, you can drop your pills at a location with no questions asked. I didn't want to wait that long keeping the pills around, knowing that they'd be a temptation to take when things got really rough, and I ended up throwing them down the toilet.

[[Di...]]

I posted my leftovers back to the pharma company. I put no postage on the parcel, and no return address, and made sure I took any of my ID off the meds. I also included a very 'nicely' worded letter, telling them what I thought of their drugs. Of course it wouldn't have achieved anything at all, except for making me feel good for a little while.

[[ba...]]

I posted my leftovers back to the pharma company. I put no postage on the parcel, and no return address, and made sure I took any of my ID off the meds. I also included a very 'nicely' worded letter, telling them what I thought of their drugs. Of course it wouldn't have achieved anything at all, except for making me feel good for a little while.

 

LMAO!

 

Damn, I wish I would have thought of this!

 

Good one, Diaz!

 

[[Cl...]]

Well done Diaz-Pam!

[[Te...]]

Yes, that was a great idea!!! Wish I'd thought of that!!!

[[Na...]]

Any pharmacy drugs we have left over you can take to ANY drug pharmacy in our area and they will dispense of them.....no questions asked. Should be this way everywhere 

[[bu...]]

IMO, these kinds of stories are written by bored journalists on a slow news day. Mostly they take some kind of obscure report and then completely misrepresent it. There are a lot of them out there - "men are becoming more feminised because of birth control and hormone therapies in the water", not to mention the good old "we're all going to die because of the fluoride in our water" campaign.

 

There are probably all sorts of things in our water, but we're all still surviving quite well. We haven't all developed some kind of horrible disease or affliction. Even those who want to be completely OTT paranoid and buy bottled water still won't be any better off, because a lot of these companies that sell bottled water are just using regular tap water anyway.

 

:thumbsup:

[[xe...]]

pharmaceutical concentrations in the low PPM range are nothing to be worried about.

 

Using the numbers from this study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21684580

Pharmaceutical compounds were detected at low concentrations in 2.3% of 1231 samples of groundwater (median depth to top of screened interval in wells=61 m) used for public drinking-water supply in California. Samples were collected statewide for the California State Water Resources Control Board's Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. Of 14 pharmaceutical compounds analyzed, 7 were detected at concentrations greater than or equal to method detection limits: acetaminophen (used as an analgesic, detection frequency 0.32%, maximum concentration 1.89 μg/L), caffeine (stimulant, 0.24%, 0.29 μg/L), carbamazepine (mood stabilizer, 1.5%, 0.42 μg/L), codeine (opioid analgesic, 0.16%, 0.214 μg/L), p-xanthine (caffeine metabolite, 0.08%, 0.12 μg/L), sulfamethoxazole (antibiotic, 0.41%, 0.17 μg/L), and trimethoprim (antibiotic, 0.08%, 0.018 μg/L). Detection frequencies of pesticides (33%), volatile organic compounds not including trihalomethanes (23%), and trihalomethanes (28%) in the same 1231 samples were significantly higher.

 

Caffeine is one of the more potent drugs from this study's results (active dose ~50mg). At 0.29ug/L, that's 0.00029mg/L. To get to 50mg, you'd need to consume 1,724,137 liters of water. The average adult needs around 3 liters a day.

 

What all that means is that you'd need to consume this water for 1,574 years straight to get a single dose of a drug. Benzos are, admittedly, much more potent - but you're still talking about a hundred years or more for a single dose (and caffeine is likely to be much more common in the environment than prescription drugs are).

 

So, I don't think this is worth worrying about. I don't drink tap water, personally, but that has nothing to do with trace drugs.

Even those who want to be completely OTT paranoid and buy bottled water still won't be any better off' date=' because a lot of these companies that sell bottled water are just using regular tap water anyway.[/quote']

I get my water from a company who start with regular tap water, then put it through a 10-stage process (reverse osmosis, carbon, UV, etc). They provide GC/MS analysis of their water's purity, and even offer tours of their facilities to anyone who is interested!

[[La...]]

I've read a few studies that mention the effects on fish caused by the drugs that are excreted through urine, etc. Poor fish! They're noticing all kinds of strange things. So, it's not really about dumping meds down the toilet, it's about bodily waste. 

[[La...]]

Any pharmacy drugs we have left over you can take to ANY drug pharmacy in our area and they will dispense of them.....no questions asked. Should be this way everywhere

 

It is not that way in southern CA USA.

[[pe...]]

Reverse Osmosis purification of water is a very effective method for removing trace impurities.

 

I agree.    Reverse osmosis also removes fluoride for those of us that don't like to be mass medicated.

[[La...]]

Here's one of the studies that shows how medications, including fluoxetine/Prozac, are affecting aquatic life:

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25557148