Posted by
Andrews on Monday, March 10, 2008 12:19:51 PM
I just saw more news coverage of the supposedly shocking news that some parts per billion of pharmaceuticals were found in certain water supplies.
This is yet another example of something I discussed with an EPA employee in the past*. While the news often gives the impression that discoveries of chemicals show the world is getting more contaminated with man-made chemicals, the truth is quite different. It is not that more and more chemicals are entering the environment, but rather that we have gone from being able to detect parts per million, to detecting parts per billion, and even parts per trillion. In other words, we can now find things that we previously could not.
This has created a mistaken impression, in this case and others.It is not so much that chemicals are increasing, but that we are finding chemicals that were always there.
Rather than panic about long term exposure to minute amounts of pharmaceuticals, we should instead realize that we are simply detecting something that has been there for some time. Perhaps it will prove harmful in the long run, more likely not, especially at the incredibly minute doses detected, but whatever the harm or lack thereof, we need to stand against media attempts to paint this as a sudden increase in water contamination.
We are not seeing any proof of increasing contamination, just the outcome of ever improving methods of detection.
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* In addition to my own conversations, this point has been discussed in several articles I have read, most focusing on the way improved detection methods can lead to the impression that chemicals are increasingly spreading out into the environment. I do not have citations handy at the moment, but will update this article once I do. I recall a few in
Rational Readings on Environmental Concerns, which I have
previously recommended. I will find if any can be found on-line. If not, I will provide author and title.