Top 11 Chemical Compounds in Your Water - Yummy
There's water in our drinking chemicals ... I mean, there are chemicals in our drinking water. You know what I meant. A while back, Patricia reported that researchers had discovered that all sorts of pharmaceutical drugs swimming around in the nation's tap water. Now, thanks to the watchdogs at the Southern Nevada Water Authority we know exactly what they are.After completing a tests on water from 21 US water utilities, researchers have compiled a list of the Ugly 11 (I couldn't come up with a better name for it). To avoid over sensationalizing the research -- which is probably what I should be doing -- I'll give you the disclaimer that these compounds were found in "extremely low concentrations." Take that for whatever its worth. Here they are in all their impure glory:
- Atenolol - a beta-blocker used to treat heart/cardiovascular diseases.
- Atrazine - banned in the EU, this organic herbicide is suspected of harming salmon populations and a lot of other bad mojo.
- Carbamazepine - a mood-stabilizer and anti-convulsant, used to treat manic depression.
- Estrone - a hormone blamed for gender weirdness in fish.
- Gemfibrozil - an anti-cholesterol drug, because we're fat.
- Meprobamate - a tranquilzer used to ease psychiatric symptomes, because we're crazy.
- Naproxen - a prescription anti-inflammatory.
- Phenytoin - another anti-convulsant used to treat epilepsy.
- Sulfamethoxazole - an antibiotic used to combat strep throat.
- TCEP - a reducing agent used in biochemistry, waterever that means.
- Trimethoprim - an antibiotic used to fight urinary tract infections. Vaguely ironic, because urine is one of the primary ways that it gets into our drinking water.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-14-2009 @ 10:43AM
Patricia said...
Lovely. And most home filtration systems don't get these contaminants out.
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1-15-2009 @ 9:35AM
ryan said...
Recycle your own piss like in waterworld!
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