Many people take medications without prescription from time to time, but this article is not about how correct this approach is. The point is different: most likely, you do not even suspect that you are taking significantly more drugs than you planned – and obviously not the ones that you planned.
Production and consumption of drugs is increasing every year – even without taking into account the pandemic.
Here are a few reasons why this is happening:
- The population is aging and life expectancy is increasing;
- Economic growth allows faster treatment of age-related and chronic diseases;
- Animal husbandry and aquaculture are being intensified;
- Climate change exacerbates existing diseases etc.
The main drug users are people and "inhabitants" of agricultural land: animals and plants. However, neither humans nor animals "digest" drugs completely. They are excreted from the body, enter the environment … and again end up on our table – in a glass of water.
Experts have long begun to talk about drugs in the water. But close attention was drawn to the problem about 15 years ago, when an excessive concentration of a drug used to lower blood cholesterol levels was found in groundwater in many countries. The further, the more. Later, various drugs were found in surface springs and underground aquifers.
Also, out of habit, a very large number of expired drugs are washed down the drain, and from there the drugs can easily get into the water. American scientists even conducted a study, identifying different groups of drugs in the water. So, for example, during the period of flowering and allergy to pollen, a large amount of antihistamines got into the water.
Believe it or not, there are so many drugs to be found in the water today: antidepressants, antibiotics, analgesics, antifungals, drug metabolites… And, of course, hormones. This may adversely affect the health of the population. For example, hormonal drugs can suppress or stimulate the endocrine system, affect the synthesis of other hormonal compounds, and block some receptors. Antibiotics can lead to microbial resistance, and a person cannot subsequently be treated for life-threatening diseases. Other drugs can provoke the development of allergies, affect not only health, but also the possibility of procreation.
The truth is that you run the risk of drinking someone else's treatment without even knowing it.
How to protect yourself? What can be done?
At a minimum, do not use medicines “for prevention” and go to doctors instead of self-treatment – so as not to spoil your health and not poison the planet with a lot of pharmaceuticals.
Unused or expired medicines must be dropped off to a drug take back location. Do not dispose of them with household waste, or in the sink or toilet.
My best advice is to be conscious and take care of the quality of the water in your home. Residual quantities of pharmaceutical compounds can be removed from drinking water in various ways: ozonation, ultraviolet irradiation, etc. The best option is filtration.
Additional water purification with a high-quality filter will protect you and your family from drugs in drinking water.
Big Pharma has no place in food and water!