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[cool][#0000ff]Several news articles and reports on the recent findings that many of the nation's water supplies are laced with drugs...the same stuff we have in our medicine cabinets...or that we get from our friendly local "dealer". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the scary things is that fish are turning up with high concentrations of certain pharmaceuticals and it is drastically affecting them. Some are undergoing gender changes or are failing to spawn successfully, etc. What's next? Tranny trout? Crossover carp? Sissy steelhead?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If these fish become addicted to these drugs, our next challenge will be to come up with good artificial patterns for them. Oxycontin emergers? Wooly Qualudes?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][url "http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/11/pharma.waterfish.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest"]LINK TO INFO SITE[/url][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also found it interesting that the above article named Lake Mead as a place where they were doing some testing. Kinda ties in with what we have been discussing about the downstream effects of "FLUSHING".[/#0000ff]
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technology is an amazing thing. Lab equipment has reached a point where finding particles in the parts per trillion are not uncommon. It wouldn't surprise me to be able to find nearly anything you wanted in our drinking water if you looked hard enough. It's a scary thing to think about. It makes you wonder for how long these contaminants have actually been around?
thanks for the link to the article -- very interesting. It doesn't come out and say whether or not these pharmaceuticals are the cause of the "sexually orientation" mutations of the fish or not. Maybe this is simply a case of velociraptors "finding a way". Scary, no matter...
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Hmm. interesting. I work for a company that builds many wastewater treatment plants throughout the world. I have never heard anything on this until this morning on the radio and then now. I know the effluents of the plants are monitored pretty aggressively by the states and heavy fines and implications are given out if the effluent doesn't meet certain standards. Maybe the testing doesn't look for these type of particles in the water, but that would really suprise me. I'm gonna have to look into this some more. thanks TD for the interesting read.
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[cool][#0000ff]I suspect that modern drug testing technology is to get the blame/credit for the new findings. The increased emphasis on screenings for employment or sports has led to new procedures that can be applied to almost anything...including drinking water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most of the pharmaceuticals involved are complex chemical compounds that would probably go undetected without specific detection methods. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On one hand you have to be thankful that SOMEONE out there is looking out for us. On the other hand....THANKS FOR SOMETHING ELSE TO WORRY ABOUT.[/#0000ff]
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This wont really affect alot of lakes in Utah, their water comes from the mountain rains and snows. Where the problem lakes will be, is down stream from major cities where recycled water is returned to the rivers. This is more prevelant back east.
-DallanC
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[cool][#0000ff]Excellent point. That was one of the comments made on the news blurb I watched last night. Along most of the Wasatch Front we drink mostly "unused" water. Those who depend upon shallow groundwater wells or are at the end of long rivers are more likely to "enjoy" the leavings of those who ingest and flush.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Excellent point. That was one of the comments made on the news blurb I watched last night. Along most of the Wasatch Front we drink mostly "unused" water. Those who depend upon shallow groundwater wells or are at the end of long rivers are more likely to "enjoy" the leavings of those who ingest and flush.[/#0000ff] [/reply]
I read a story the other day... if I can remember where I'll post it, anyway they said that in the south, some citys use water that has previously been "used" as much as 14 times by cities up stream.
What a yucky thought LOL!
-DallanC
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Oh! GAG!!![crazy]
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[cool][#0000ff]I spent about 6 months on a temporary work assignment in New Orleans (before Katrina). That is no joke down there. NOBODY drinks tap water except for those who can't afford filtered or bottled water. In fact, many people use the excuse that they only drink alcoholic beverages because the alcohol kills the contaminants. As good an excuse as any, I guess. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since New Orleans is at the bottom end of the mighty (polluted) Mississippi river, the water that goes by in the river is a chemical soup from all of the legal and illegal dumpings of agriculture, industry and municipalities upstream. They joke that night fishing is easy in the "Big Easy"...'cause all de fish, dey glow, y'know?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And, the chemical "plume" that extends out into the Gulf of Mexico...from the delta of the Mississipi...has left a vast barren underwater wasteland. Where shrimp, crabs and many species of fish once lived and propagated there is now only a huge field of toxic ooze on the bottom of the Gulf. It grows bigger every year and has spread back into some of the marshlands that grow all of the new shrimp, crabs and fish...and provide food and shelter for millions of migratory waterfowl.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sadly, even if we ceased polluting tomorrow, those "dead zones" would take generations to heal themselves...if ever. The question is WHERE AND WHEN DO WE START THE PROCESS?[/#0000ff]
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