From 1991 to 2001, overall prescriptions of antidepressants in the UK rose from nine million to 24 million a year. And now, 8 years later, that number is way up. Once the drug is ingested, it doesn't just disappear in the human body. Trace amounts of the antidepressant make into the sewage system, and some Brits fear, into the water supply.
An environmental spokesperson for the country's Liberal Democrats told The Guardian, "This looks like a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public. It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water."
Meanwhile, the British Environment Agency is still studying the matter to determine the precise quanitity of Prozac that is actually in the water. But if there is a significant Prozac presence in tap water in the UK, can you imagine our water's prozac content? There has already been reserach conducted in the US regarding trace amounts of synethetic hormones (like Birth Control pills) and Antibiotics in the water. Is the case for pharmaceutically contamintaed water strong enough to avoid tap water? Probably not. however, definitely something to stay up on.
Photo courtesy of Daphne Cuarana Galizia
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