Drug Manufacturing Facilities are Major Source of Drugs in Drinking Water

U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic technicians collect a stream sample from Hallocks Mill Brook downstream of the outfall of one of the wastewater treatment plants investigated. Photo courtesy of USGS.

Guest bloggers Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer are co-founders of NaturallySavvy.com.

A five-year study conducted by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers has found that pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities are a "significant source" of pharmaceuticals that enter the local environment.
From 2004 to 2009, USGS researchers tested outflow samples from two wastewater treatment plants in New York State where more than 20 percent of the water received by the plants is from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. The researchers found the pharmaceutical concentrations in the treated water that ends up in your faucet were 10 to 1,000 times higher than the outflows from 24 water treatment facilities around the U.S. (including one in New York State) that do not receive water from pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.

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