There are chemicals found in pharmaceutical products that are also used in other industrial and manufacturing purposes. Lithium is used for the treatment of bipolar disorder, as well as for making ceramics. Nitroglycerin is a medication for the heart, as well as an ingredient in bomb-making. Copper is in contraceptives, as well as wires and pipes. The two most used industrial chemicals in the manufacture of medicinal drugs are the toxic elements of antiseptics phenol and hydrogen peroxide. They have also found their way loosely into practically anywhere in the environment.

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, US drug manufacturers ‘have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked.’ These drug manufacturers, some of them major companies, have always denied their environmental water pollution.

The AP investigation entitled ‘PharmaWater’ has identified trace concentrations of 22 compounds that exist in everyday drinking water in the US. These chemicals that are constantly released into rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water have found their way into the supposedly potable water that comes out of household taps.

The federal government has now opened some new investigation and testing, whereas it used to concur with drug companies that the chemicals released into the environment were within legal limits.

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Via Yahoo! News