Anti-Epileptics, Sex Hormones, Mood Stabilizers, Antibiotics Among Array of Pharmaceuticals in U.S. Water Supply

Anti-epileptics were found in the drinking water of Southern California, a sex hormone was found in San Francisco’s water, three medications and an antibiotic were found in the water supply of Tuscon, Arizona and a mood stabilizer was found in the water of New Jersey. And that’s just to name a few.

The Associated Press has conducted an extensive investigation into the drinking water in at least 24 major American cities across the country contains trace amounts of a wide array of pharmaceuticals. The amounts might be small, but scientists are worried about the long-term health and environmental consequences of their presence in the water supplies of some 41 million Americans.

The five-month investigation of 62 metropolitan areas and 51 smaller cities found that many drinking water suppliers including bottled water companies do not even test for the presence of drugs in the water. The utilities that do test for drugs often don"t tell customers about the trace amounts of medications in their water.

Jeff Donn is a National Writer for the Associated Press and one of the reporters who led this investigation. He joins me now from Boston.

Jeff Donn, Associated Press national writer and co-author of an investigative series on pharmaceuticals in drinking water.

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• AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water