Levels of Trace Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water Too Low to Impact Human Health According to Water Research Founda...( The concentr...),Health

The concentrations of pharmaceutical drugs and endocrine-disrupting compounds found in our public drinking water are likely too low to impact human health, according to a new report by the Water Research Foundation, the nation's leading drinking water research organization.

Denver, CO (PRWEB) March 4, 2009 -- The concentrations of pharmaceutical drugs and endocrine-disrupting compounds found in our public drinking water are likely too low to impact human health, according to a new report by the Water Research Foundation, the nation's leading drinking water research organization.

The Water Research Foundation presented its findings at a February 27 congressional briefing.

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) encompass a variety of chemical classes, including hormones, plant constituents (phytoestrogens), pesticides, compounds used in the plastics industry and in consumer products, and other industrial by-products. There is growing public attention and concern about the possibility of health effects from trace amounts of EDCs and drugs that are flushed down the toilet or enter the water supply through human and livestock waste. The Water Research Foundation report examined not only the presence of trace levels of EDCs and drugs in water, but explored if there is a potential link between the levels of these compounds found in water and effects on human health.

Water Research Foundation has committed up to $1 million per year to an integrated, multi-year research program to address specific issues associated with ultra-low levels of drugs and chemicals in the water supply.

The report, titled Toxicological Relevance of Endocrine Disruptors and Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water, concludes three years of research in collaboration with 17 water utilities.

"Even the most advanced treatment processes that we've studied won't achieve an absolute zero level of
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