Something in the Water

What to do while research on drug contaminants trickles in

FORGET TREKKING to Canada if you want cheap prescription drugs. Just head to the kitchen sink.

A recent Associated Press story said that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals had been found in tap water in 25 of 28 municipal water supplies tested, including the District's. The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate these compounds in the water supply, though studies have detected them at concentrations that are thousands or millions of times lower than the concentrations allowed for those water contaminants that the EPA does regulate. Since levels are so low, experts say, the health risk that the pharmaceutical traces pose is probably negligible.

Still, little is known about the effects of long-term exposure to very low levels of drugs. Scientists have only recently been able to detect contaminants at these very low levels, so research is still in the early stages.

What would facilitate this research, surely, would be greater willingness from water treatment authorities to release the results of tests carried out on their water. Water treatment authorities seem generally reluctant to disclose this information, citing either national security concerns (which seem laughable, given how low the concentrations are) or the potential for confusion because consumers don't understand how low the concentrations are and may be too scared to continue drinking tap water. Transparency would promote better science and consumer trust, and this confusion could easily be overcome by greater education and outreach.