Bottled or Tap?

[Adeptus_Minor]

Hell, I just use the filter pitcher because our tap water tastes lakey most of the time.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Hmm, no drugs in the water huh..... You guys can read the article if you want, this is one of many: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...n3920454.shtml

As G-rex said "Are they there in trace amounts that are so minute that they don't register in samplings tests? Sure". Your article talks about concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the parts per billion or even trillion. Look at the list I have linked to below from the EPA. They make it completely legal to have higher concentrations of Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Toluene, and a bunch of other shit I haven't even heard of that will fuck you up. This is what you should be worried about, not minute concentrations of drugs that have been designed for human consumption.

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by goof2

As G-rex said "Are they there in trace amounts that are so minute that they don't register in samplings tests? Sure". Your article talks about concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the parts per billion or even trillion. Look at the list I have linked to below from the EPA. They make it completely legal to have higher concentrations of Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Styrene, Toluene, and a bunch of other shit I haven't even heard of that will fuck you up. This is what you should be worried about, not minute concentrations of drugs that have been designed for human consumption.

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/index.html

Except they DID register in samplings tests, did you read the article? And as for whether they are worth worrying about, the verdict isn't in yet, but many scientists are concerned..... I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

I hear ya, you couldn't PAY me to drink our tap water on a regular basis. Gross.

[101lifts2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Is this the thing where it's blue jugs that you put upside down into a dispenser? Do you go pick it up, or get it delivered?

Yes the jug is blue and they do put it upside down to rinse it out, but I go there and fill it up myself.

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Except they DID register in samplings tests, did you read the article? And as for whether they are worth worrying about, the verdict isn't in yet, but many scientists are concerned..... I think I'll listen to them rather than a motorcycle board or a utility company.

I read the article and it also said that the concentrations they detected were in the parts per billion and parts per trillion. Maybe they are a hazard and maybe they aren't. Either way, greater allowable concentrations of arsenic, cyanide, and lead in addition to the other chemicals I listed will do more damage. This is like worrying about the tire pressure on your car when all the lug nuts are loose, but go ahead and worry away.

[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by goof2

I read the article and it also said that the concentrations they detected were in the parts per billion and parts per trillion. Maybe they are a hazard and maybe they aren't. Either way, greater allowable concentrations of arsenic, cyanide, and lead in addition to the other chemicals I listed will do more damage. This is like worrying about the tire pressure on your car when all the lug nuts are loose, but go ahead and worry away.

Neither of us is qualified to know whether those other chemicals/metals will do more damage than pharamacueticals in ALL cases. Maybe in general, but not necessarily for everyone. There may be cases where some people are very sensitive to certain pharamaceuticals, like maybe they have a health condition that they are taking one kind of medicine for, and along comes this other medicine in their tapwater that counteracts it. In the short term that person isn't going to notice anything, but over several years? Nobody has done a study. Also the fact that the government doesn't even require anyone to test for pharmaceuticals is concerning IMO. How do we know there aren't water systems somewhere where the levels are really high?

[goof2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Neither of us is qualified to know whether those other chemicals/metals will do more damage than pharamacueticals in ALL cases. Maybe in general, but not necessarily for everyone. There may be cases where some people are very sensitive to certain pharamaceuticals, like maybe they have a health condition that they are taking one kind of medicine for, and along comes this other medicine in their tapwater that counteracts it. In the short term that person isn't going to notice anything, but over several years? Nobody has done a study. Also the fact that the government doesn't even require anyone to test for pharmaceuticals is concerning IMO. How do we know there aren't water systems somewhere where the levels are really high?

I'm not sure anyone is qualified in ALL cases. Testing of pharmaceuticals (which people are regularly ingesting in relatively massive quantities anyway) is not done to the part per billion or trillion level over a long term that I am aware of. If someone is extremely hyper-susceptable to a chemical or compound it may be an issue over the course of their lifetime. The same could be said about anything, yet I choose not to be afraid of the sun, the air, or the water as these things are currently among the least likely to kill me.