Mar 10, 2008 6:12 pm US/Central
What Scientists Found In Minneapolis' Tap Water
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Researchers said the drug amounts are very small and pose no short term dangers, but no one knows what the long term consequences may be. Minneapolis was one of the cities where tap water was tested. (File)
CBS
A nationwide investigation by the Associated Press has turned up prescription drugs in tap water. Antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, sex hormones and over-the-counter pain medicines were found in drinking water.
Researchers said the drug amounts are very small and pose no short term dangers, but no one knows what the long term consequences may be. Minneapolis was one of the cities where tap water was tested.
At Kramarczuk's restaurant Minneapolis tap water is used for cleaning and cooking.
"There's a lot of water in our sausages. We have to make sure the meat has a certain wetness in order to mix well. So yes, we use a lot of water," said manager Nick Kramarczuk.
When businesses like Kramarczuk's rely so much on water, they can't help but be concerned when an investigation shows their tap water is coming with an unwelcome ingredient: caffeine. But is it enough caffeine to cause concern?
"That level is so tiny I can't really see how there would even over 70 years or a lifetime of exposure that that level would be a concern," said Stew Thornley of the Minnesota Department of Health.
These are the cities that use Minneapolis drinking water: Minneapolis, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Columbia Heights, Hilltop, parts of Bloomington and Edina, and the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport.
Tests on the source water showed traces of Tylenol and by-products of nicotine. However, those drugs were filtered out in the city's water treatment plants, leaving only traces of caffeine to consumers.
"We rely on the water treatment plant, such as Minneapolis, to take these things out, but it's even better if we can keep them out of the source waters to begin with," said Thornley.
The drugs get into the water through us. We consume them, and whatever our bodies don't absorb gets flushed into the toilets. Thornley said people may be finding more things in the water because we're just getting better at it.
"Because analytical methods have become more sophisticated we are finding things that a few years ago we would not have found, wouldn't have even been detected," he said.
The Minneapolis tap water portion of the study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey between 2000 and 2002, before the city built a new ultrafiltration system in Columbia Heights in 2005. Health officials said it is possible that there may be even less traces of caffeine today.
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