France is the 4th largest consumer of drugs in the world! And if the French buy so much, it’s because they consume just as much. However, these medications are not completely broken down by the body after absorption. The residues passing through the stools and urine ultimately end up in wastewater which the treatment plants are not capable of treating because they are not equipped for these molecules. Added to this are the thousands of tablets that some people throw down the sink or toilet.
Impacts on the natural environment and health
In surface water, as much as in groundwater, these residues accumulate. To the risk of involuntarily consuming these medications and consequently absorbing unwanted active ingredients, even if they are at low doses, is added the cocktail effect that we are unable to qualify. Indeed, the mixing of these substances with others already present such as chemical residues or pesticides, constitutes a real danger whose effects we do not know, neither in the short term, nor even less in the long term.
Added to this is the problem of antibiotic resistance of bacteria placed in prolonged contact with antibiotic residues. The medium-term consequences can be dramatic if certain strains of pathogenic bacteria become resistant to antibiotics which are normally used to treat pathologies that require them.
Too little research exists and it is very difficult in any case to clarify the situation as the work is gigantic if we have to take into account the interactions between the different molecules, the fauna, the flora... And even so, how can we reproduce this reliably in the laboratory?
There is no no regulations today requiring the verification of drug residues in drinking water. Suffice to say that the subject is far from being settled!
While waiting to put in place a real in-depth reflection, to succeed in convincing the pharmaceutical industry to integrate environmental consequences in the development of new drugs, to ensure that doctors only deliver the necessary quantity or dose and not entire boxes of which part will not be used and thrown away, to communicate on the need to return the ends of boxes to the pharmacy so that they do not end up in the sinks or the trash, there is a solution: drink water purified by a Berkey® system !
Berkey® water filters equipped with their Black Berkey® filters allow you to filter many pharmaceutical products and system disruptors endocrine such as BPA, naproxin, octylphenol, progesterone, THMs and many others. Consult the analyzes by following this link.
