Stay Calm — Prozac in Your Drinking Water

by Mark Townsend

Published August 2004 by the Observer/UK

It should make us happy, but environmentalists are deeply alarmed: Prozac, the anti-depression drug, is being taken in such large quantities that it can now be found in Britain’s drinking water.

Environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the revelations, describing the build-up of the antidepressant as ‘hidden mass medication.’ The Environment Agency has revealed that Prozac is building up both in river systems and groundwater used for drinking supplies.

The discovery raises fresh fears that GPs are overprescribing Prozac, Britain’s antidepressant of choice. In the decade up to 2001, overall prescriptions of antidepressants rose from nine million to 24 million a year.

A recent report by the Environment Agency concluded Prozac could be potentially toxic in the water table and said the drug was a ‘potential concern.’

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat’s environment spokesman, said the revelations exposed a failing by the public health issue. He added that the public should be told if they were inadvertently taking drugs like Prozac. “It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water.”

Experts say that Prozac finds its way into rivers and water systems from treated sewage water.

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004. Read more at: www. organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/prozac080904.cfm