Prozac 'found in drinking water'

Many people choose Prozac over other antidepressants

Traces of the antidepressant Prozac can be found in the nation's drinking water, it has been revealed.

An Environment Agency report suggests so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building up in rivers and groundwater.

A report in Sunday's Observer says the government's environment watchdog has discussed the impact for human health.

A spokesman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said the Prozac found was most likely highly diluted.

'Alarming'

The newspaper says environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the evidence.

It quotes the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, Norman Baker MP, as saying the picture emerging looked like "a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public".

He says: "It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water."

Experts say the anti-depression drug gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage water.

Prescriptions increase

The DWI said the Prozac was unlikely to pose a health risk as it was so "watered down".

The Observer says the revelations raise new fears over how many prescriptions for the drug are given out by doctors.

In the decade leading up to 2001, the number of prescriptions for antidepressants went up from nine million per year to 24 million per year, says the paper.

The Environment Agency report concluded that the Prozac in the water table could be potentially toxic and said the drug was a "potential concern". The exact amount of Prozac in the nation's drinking water is not known. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3545684.stm



For fucks sake!!!:$

 

The Observers story


Stay calm everyone, there's Prozac in the drinking water

Mark Townsend
Sunday August 8, 2004
The Observer

It should make us happy, but environmentalists are deeply alarmed: Prozac, the anti-depression drug, is being taken in such large quantities that it can now be found in Britain's drinking water.


Environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the revelations, describing the build-up of the antidepressant as 'hidden mass medication'. The Environment Agency has revealed that Prozac is building up both in river systems and groundwater used for drinking supplies.

The government's chief environment watchdog recently held a series of meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to discuss any repercussions for human health or the ecosystem.

The discovery raises fresh fears that GPs are overprescribing Prozac, Britain's antidepressant of choice. In the decade up to 2001, overall prescriptions of antidepressants rose from nine million to 24 million a year.

A recent report by the Environment Agency concluded Prozac could be potentially toxic in the water table and said the drug was a 'potential concern'.

However, the precise quantity of Prozac in the nation's water supplies remains unknown. The government's Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said Prozac was likely to be found in a considerably 'watered down' form that was unlikely to pose a health risk.

Dr Andy Croxford, the Environment's Agency's policy manager for pesticides, told The Observer: 'We need to determine the effects of this low-level, almost continuous discharge.' Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat's environment spokesman, said the revelations exposed a failing by the government on an important public health issue. He added that the public should be told if they were inadvertently taking drugs like Prozac.

'This looks like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public,' Baker said. 'It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water.'



Experts say that Prozac finds its way into rivers and water systems from treated sewage water. Some believe the drugs could affect their reproductive ability.

European studies have also expressed disquiet over the impact of pharmaceuticals building up in the environment, warning that an effect on wildlife and human health 'cannot be excluded'. 'It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted in very low concentrations,' a DWI spokesman said. 'Advanced treatment processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug residues,' he added. </FONT>




http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1278760,00.html


Can you imagine how much must be going in for it to show up??????????????????????????????????

 

Oh dear! Something else for the public to get paranoid about

 

Deary me... Yah can't get away from chemicals... Ever! Although, I plan to fight off the affects with positive vibes
Love,
Sunshine Lily
xxx

 

WOW -- that is one way to keep everyone calm...lol

 

I think it fucking sucks.

If I want to take drugs I'll go and see a drug dealer.

Why should we pay massive water rates if we dont know whats in it?

Why should people have to drink bottled water and make some fatcat rich off a natural resource because we don't trust the water companies?

Not to mention the pharmaceutical companies making a fortune on a drug with a seriously dodgy rep.

Like I said, I think it fucking sucks.

 

ah well atleast it wont depress us *mwar*

 

Ummm..... that only kills bacteria. Prozac ain't alive, last time I checked!

 

'tis a brave new world....


~

 

*Ping*...*Lightbulb above my head*...


Thankyou Patrick for that wonderful idea!

 

What about water filter jugs ... would they work to get rid of it?

 

Hahahahaha

Got to love a well-placed pun

 

and gets rid of chlorine and flouride. Also gives you loads of nice limescale, mmmm.

Anyway, I really can't see what the problem is with tiny traces of prozac, it's not like it's enough for your body to recognise or need to react to and it's not going to build up in your system or anything.

 

How we ever had an Empire I'll never understand.

Will you take notice of all the crap we ingest before or after ones bollocks go fluorescent?

 

part of me feels disgusted with the system, part of me with the people.


For starters the traces are indeed so light that we needent worry about it and it gives me the feeling that we are turning into america, kicking up a fuss and sueing anyone over anything. There are people in this world who are made to drink water with far worse chemicals/bacteria/deseises in than bloody minute traces of Prozac.

Then again i also know how easily prozac is given out by doctors. I know too many people who get put on anti-depressants just because they are going through the typical teenage angst. Depression to a certain degree is natural. but its played up and worried over far too much in modern society. I got through depression and self harm without the use of any drugs, and i know many other who did too, depression is something everyone goes through at some point and to rely on a chemical to get you through it is stupid. nothing will cure depression except physical acceptance that you can get better if you decide to mentally. Its a mental illness cured by a mental process not by dopeing yourself up. *sigh*

so yea my opinion on this is slightly split.... as usual :s

 

Apparently we'll take notice so long before we actually have any problem with the water supply whatsoever that this wont be an issue!! I used to work as a water quality control scientist for a water company and the restrictions on water companies are very heavily enforced, you wouldn't believe how much work goes into keeping your water fit to drink, most companies even run their own science labs specifically to take test samples of water every few hours from EVERY source.

 

In complete agreement with you here, I'm sure the water supply isn't unhealthy at all but the events leading up to those news articles are horrifying. So many doctors are handing out drugs because it's easier than trying to treat a patient properly that it's affecting the water supply!

 

No I don't believe it.

Well excellent. Last time I heard that argument it came out of the mouth of Margaret Thatcher when all the privatisation was going on.
What was so funny was at conference they were discussing the greatness of our water supply while drinking Evian bottled water.

We are all very well aware of the state of the 'third worlds' drinking water thanks. I spent most of my childhood observing the carnage of what it does and experiencing it first hand.

So because the third world is in dire straits due to being exploited by western capitalism one should feel guilty and ignore the effects that western capitalism has here?

Sorry. The same people are causing the same shit and getting fat. Up to you whether you want to do anything about it or ignore it I suppose.

By the way I'm not just talking about water companies. It's also Pharmaceutical companies and Government....the whole stinking lot.

You say none of it matters, I disagree. Every little bit matters.

 

Don't be a pedantic twat. I was talking in the context of eliminating pharmaceutical chemicals.

 

I don't think the issues's particularly about whether a given level of prozac in the drinking water is safe, but rather about the continuing build up of chemicals in the food and water supply. Sure, a bit of prozac might not do you any harm, but it's the tip of a growing iceberg. Check out this article regarding plastic pollution. At what particular point should we start getting worried? Surely we shouldn't be concerned so much with whether the water companies are filtering out water adequately - surely the real issue is why they should need to in the first place?