We have been hearing stories of various contaminants and toxins in the drinking water in various countries recently, and an environmental study done by a team of researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Arizona State, and the University of Toronto recently found a connection between a growing PPCP epidemic and a poisonous disinfection by-product (DBP) ending up in the drinking water.
Their finding s were published in Environmental Science & Technology Letter, and state that methadone, which reacts to chlorination by forming large amounts of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), is a probable human carcinogen.
Is There Methadone in Your Water?
The study found that there was a median methadone concentration of 23 mg/L, and that the drug was responsible for NDMA formation potential in both raw surface water and in wastewater.
David Hanigan, the study’s lead PhD student, said that pharmaceuticals, particularly methadone, are definitely responsible for the formation of at least some of the carcinogens in drinking water, and that our wastewater plants are not designed to remove them.
These pharmaceuticals are damaging both human health and the ecosystem, as has already been shown by the unnatural phenomenon of fish feminisation in various bodies of freshwater worldwide. While this study garnered a lot of media attention, it does not seem as though the water industry has developed a conclusive treatment method to combat it.
According to the study, early indications are that activated carbon, pre-oxidation with ozone or chlorine dioxide could help get rid of the problem, but some of those methods could form other by-products.
Although Hanigan still views this carcinogen exposure as relatively low risk, he suggests the use of activated carbon prior to disinfection. He says switching to bottled water is not the solution either, as we are all responsible for surface water pollution with pharmaceuticals and anthropogenic chemicals, and we all need to find a method to fix this problem.
In the meantime, the best thing one could do to ensure that the water you are drinking is pure and does not contain methadone or any other contaminants or carcinogens is to invest in a water coolers with a really good filter such as a Living-Water Executive water cooler fitted with the Living-Water Triple Activated Carbon Filter.
Buy water dispensers online for your business from Living-Water.
