Prescription Meds Get Trapped In Disturbing Pee-To-Food-To-Pee Loop (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A study published Tuesday in Environmental Science and Technology is the first to validate the long-held suspicion that pharmaceuticals may get trapped in infinite pee-to-food-to-pee loops, exposing consumers to drug doses with unknown health effects. In a randomized, single-blind pilot study, researchers found that anti-convulsive epilepsy drug carbamazepine, which is released in urine, can accumulate in crops irrigated with recycled water -- treated sewage -- and end up in the urine of produce-eaters not on the drugs. While the amounts of the drug in produce-eater's pee were four orders of magnitude lower than what is seen in the pee of patients purposefully taking the drugs, researchers speculate that the trace amounts could still have health effects in some people, such as those with a genetic sensitivity to the drugs, pregnant women, children, and those who eat a lot of produce, such as vegetarians. And with the growing practice of reclaiming wastewater for crop irrigation -- particularly in places that face water shortages such as California, Israel, and Spain --- the produce contamination could become more common and more potent, the authors argue.

Comments

Only 10,000 times lower?

[jandrese]

I'm surprised the concentrations are high enough to only be 4 orders of magnitude off from a person actively taking the medication. I would have expected it to dilute a lot more than that over the course of irrigating a field of crops, picked, processed, cooked, and finally ingested.

Re:Biological affinity

[Obfuscant]

Biological effect does not require a chemical to break down in the process. Most drugs are eliminated after being broken down, but their effect comes from interacting with the systems while they are whole. Or sometimes, the metabolic products are what interact with the system.

But if you want a perfect example of something that doesn't break down but has a serious effect: lead. Your body doesn't convert lead to anything but lead. Wouldn't it be great if our bodies had nuclear reactors that could split lead into something else?

But anyway, what's the problem with this carb-whatever? Isn't it good that everyone will be less likely to have seizures?