Everything I've read indicates that most of the drugs found in the water supply are from discarded drugs. They are thrown down the drain, apparently, when they are no longer needed. (I guess so a pet or child or addict can't get to them?)
If this is the case, then it may be worth asking why people are throwing drugs down the drain while, at the same time, everyone complains about the high cost of drugs. There is talk now of instituting drug-recycling programs - you give your drugs back to the pharmacist for resale. But I have a better idea: how about legalizing the sale of drugs by non-pharmacists?
It should be noted that in order to find a chemical diluted out in the water supply, you have to know what to look for. There are probably drugs present that were not on the short-list of drugs the scientists were trying to detect: Ibuprofen, Naproxen (Aleve), antibiotics, and birth-control hormones were detected, because they are commonly used and would be on this short-list. Additionally, any breakdown products of drugs would have to be specifically searched for, meaning that the breakdown of the drugs would have to have been studied and understood before being added to the short-list. Thus, many drugs which are processed and passed through the body would not be identified. Also, the toxicity (or benignity) of these byproducts is probably unknown. So recycling, or reselling, may have no effect.
