Prozac found in drinking water

Last updated at 12:22 09 August 2004


Britons could unwittingly be swallowing traces of anti-depressant Prozac and other drugs in drinking water, according to a report released today.

Environmentalists have labelled the situation "hidden mass medication of the unsuspecting public" after the study states pharmaceutical residues can travel through the sewage system and end up in the "aquatic environment".

'Toxic'

The levels of any such residue is unknown, and the Environment Agency has called on the drugs industry to prove its products are unlikely to cause significant harm to the environment.

According to the study by Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat shadow environment secretary, Prozac has been found by the EA to be "both toxic and persistent" and "a substance that could be of potential concern".

There has been a 166% increase in prescriptions for anti-depressants in England since 1991 - up to 24 million a year.

Mr Baker said: "This looks like a case of hidden mass medication of the unsuspecting public and is potentially a very worrying health issue.

"The Government is quite simply not taking its responsibility to public health seriously.

"It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water.

"There is also no evidence that filtration eliminates these contaminants from water and Ministers don't even know which water works are fitted with which filtering devices anyway.

"From start to finish this is a demonstration of staggering complacency from a 'don't know, don't care' Government.

'Dilution effect'

"The public has a right to know what's in our water supplies and whether they are inadvertently taking drugs like Prozac."

Last year, the Environment Agency announced it had completed research focusing on commonly used pharmaceuticals.

In its study, the Agency reviewed 500 of the most commonly used pharmaceuticals in England and Wales and monitored 12 thought to pose the greatest potential environmental threat, including painkillers, antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs and anti depressants.

Of these, 10 were found in sewage treatment work effluents and eight were detected in the rivers receiving these effluents.

The LibDem report says the Drinking Water Inspectorate Regulations do not specify limits for pharmaceutical residues in drinking water and these are not tested for during water quality assessments.

A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which includes the DWI, said: "It is extremely unlikely that there is a risk, as such drugs are excreted in very low concentrations and biodegraded during sewage treatment and in watercourses.

"There is also a large dilution effect.

"Furthermore, advanced treatment processes installed for pesticide removal are effective in removing drug residues - these are commonly found in waters abstracted from lowland rivers."

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