Forget about mining for gold, people ought to be mining the pharma gold in the water because there's a lot of it out there. Problems related to pharmaceuticals in the Chesapeake Bay tributaries have been well documented and similar problems have been reported around the country. Who wants to be drinking this water or letting their kids drink this water? Industry needs to start thinking more about the people they are impacting and be forced to clean their act. It's time the federal government starts paying attention instead of letting business pollute at will.
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water — contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation.
Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drugmaking: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.
