We have drugs in our water. Let's put this in context first.
Today the amount of violence we have in the streets has gone down since 1980, proportional to the population. However, the news coverage of it has increased by 6 times.
The past 6 years we have seen all of the following major, epidemic level headlines. Attacks within the United States Imminent (many times), Avian Flu Outbreak, Bubonic Plague Outbreak, Lead Tainted Toys, Mercury Tainted Foods, Poisonous Dog Food, Global Warming, Global Cooling and the list goes on.
Some of these stories had real merits. Some did not. The problem is that if the public is flooded with alarming messages, inundated with fear-mongering news stories, the public becomes 'conditioned.' Now, like the boy who cried wolf, people simply don't care enough to become outraged at 'real problems' because these real problems don't sound any different then the 'End All Life as We Know It' news stories they hear everyday.
This news story on drugs in our water is an excellent example. We have many medications that are present in extremely trace amounts in our water. We're taking about PPB/PPT (parts per billion or parts per trillion). For some reason this is surprising a lot of people - it shouldn't.
It is physically impossible to completely eliminate a chemical from a solution. You can only dillute its concentration - not eliminate it. The recycled water we get from waste treatment has eliminated all but a few parts per billion of the medications found in the waste from the outgoing water. That means they filtered out 99.999999% or more of the chemicals coming in. In many cases (most of the 41 million Americans that were broadcasted) the medications have been filtered out of 99.999999999% of the outgoing water (that's 1 molecule of medication for every 1 trillion molecules of water).
That means that in 1 pound of water there are 27,339,880,000,000,000 (27.3 quadrillion) molecules of medication immersed in 27,339,880,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (27.3 octillion) molecules of water. This may all sound like a lot, but it isn't.
If we compared the known safe levels for poisons in water, like lead, pesticides, even salts, you would find far, far more then you'd ever find of any medication. Magnitudes of a 1,000 times more. THIS IS NORMAL! DO NOT BE ALARMED BY SOMETHING THAT IS NOT AN ISSUE!!!
The fact of the matter is, this 'Drugs in Your Water' story is yet another attempt to alarm the public - to keep them watching the news - for no reason other then to boost ratings and sell advertising.
BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID
- and watch the continuing story at 5 to find out how you will survive!
Monday, March 10, 2008
The New Epidemic -Drugs in Your Water
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6 comments:
The only concern I'd have is the long term "buildup" effect of these drugs. There are decades and decades of information on what the usual elements in water (salts, lead, etc.) do to people, but many prescription medications have only entered widespread/heavy use in the last 50 years or so. Much less cumulative data. Remember, a century ago no one thought the emissions from smokestacks and auto exhausts would make a dent in a planet's atmosphere that was as massive as ours...now we are discovering otherwise...
I truly do believe there may be some kind of 'long-term' affect to this - not necessarily negative. However, I also recognize that the chemical levels found are so low they approach the limit of what can be filtered out at all. And, when looking at the reasonable feasibility of trying to correct this and comparing to the detriment of an alternative (outright disposing of all waste) - I'd say it's a non-issue. It is probably not even a problem and has no easily definable solution - therefore it becomes meritless discussion.
I don't see the problem. I haven't met a drug yet that I didn't like. They all have their uses.
lmao
Your article is exactly why I think the news is a waste of time. If you are amused by disasters, then the news is a good comedy to watch. As far as the drugs in your water, we have been drinking water all our lives. I like the taste of unpurified water so I'll take the posions.
james:
To a degree, i agree completely.
However, I disagree on wholly ignoring it. Sadly, the only way to keep track of current events that actually do matter, at least to me, is via the news.
So, I watch, I am just often disappointed.
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