Prozac in the Water?

A week or so ago reports that trace amounts of Prozac had been found in the UK's drinking water got a lot of coverage in the blogosphere. No wonder. The idea that Prozac poppers were excreting the drug into the sewers and thereby contributing to the mass medication of the entire population was creepy, to say the least. But it turns out the reports aren't quite true. It's more a case of something that theoretically could happen, rather than something that actually is happening. In a follow-up report the Guardian notes that the Environment Agency, to which the prozac-in-the-water report was originally attributed, now says that it never studied the issue, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate insists that "There is no research that shows Prozac is in water. There's no analytical data at all." (via Apothecary's Drawer)

Food Health/Medicine

Posted on Mon Aug 16, 2004



Comments

wow maybe there's viagra and codeine in the water too!
Posted by john  on  Tue Aug 17, 2004  at  08:31 PM
Based on my observations of the general population (especially the British population), putting prozac in the drinking water might not be a bad idea (except that a few people have bad reactions to prozac).

Putting flouride in water has practically driven a lot of dentists out of business, to the point that many of them are now trying to make quick bucks hawking dubious tooth whitening schemes.
Posted by big gary c  on  Wed Aug 18, 2004  at  08:50 AM
I've been taking Prozac since I was thirteen. 😊
Posted by Shah  on  Wed Aug 18, 2004  at  02:07 PM
The Drinking Water Inspectorate has since put out a press release, Observer claim that there are traces of Prozac in drinking water is incorrect, explaining the scope of the study.
Posted by Ray Girvan  on  Sat Aug 21, 2004  at  08:25 PM
There isn't prozac in the water, but I've heard a large portion of birth control pills that women take end up in the water.
Posted by Citizen Premier  on  Tue Mar 08, 2005  at  03:06 PM
Well, I'm sure that's why the BBC reported on it...

Sorry, but not a hoax.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3545684.stm
Posted by Satan  on  Mon Aug 14, 2006  at  08:41 PM
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