Traces
of the antidepressant Prozac can be found in the nation's
drinking water, it has been revealed.
An Environment Agency report suggests
so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building
up in rivers and groundwater.
A report in Sunday's Observer says the
government's environment watchdog has discussed the
impact for human health.
A spokesman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate
(DWI) said the Prozac found was most likely highly diluted.
'Alarming'
The newspaper says environmentalists
are calling for an urgent investigation into the evidence.
It quotes the Liberal Democrats' environment
spokesman, Norman Baker MP, as saying the picture emerging
looked like "a case of hidden mass medication upon
the unsuspecting public".
He says: "It is alarming that there
is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy
residues in our drinking water."
Experts say the anti-depression drug
gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage
water.
Prescriptions increase
The DWI said the Prozac (known technically
as fluoxetine) was unlikely to pose a health risk as
it was so "watered down".
The Observer says the revelations raise
new fears over how many prescriptions for the drug are
given out by doctors.
In the decade leading up to 2001, the
number of prescriptions for antidepressants went up
from nine million per year to 24 million per year, says
the paper.
The Environment Agency report concluded
that the Prozac in the water table could be potentially
toxic and said the drug was a "potential concern".
The exact amount of Prozac in the nation's
drinking water is not known. |