Viagra News (2006)

Trace of Viagra in filtered sewage at Los Angeles aquifer.

Date: January 31, 2006

Water officials detected traces of many prescription drugs like Viagra, valium, antibiotics and a host of other birth control hormones in the filtered and recycled water in a Los Angeles aquifer. Though minimal in quantity, the drugs may have drastic effects on the public health in the long run.

Los Angeles has aggressive policies to turn treated sewage into safe drinking water. Most of the prescription drugs, especially Viagra have been flushed down from the toilets of individual homes. This is one big reason for the presence of medicaments in the water supply facilities at Los Angeles County .

The sewage in this south California city is recycled for drinking purposes after removing all the bacteria and nitrogen. Though the amount of the drugs is negligibly low, questions on the harms of a long term and continuous use has been raised by different scientific sources. It can cause pollution of the entire eco-system in the near future.

Christian Daughton, chief of environmental chemistry at the EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory branch in Las Vegas said that exposure to prescription drugs like Viagra and other antibiotics may lead to a decline in the rate of reproduction and survival. Laboratory tests carried out by ecotoxicologists in the University of Georgia have confirmed the fears of Christian Daughton.

To prevent a future catastrophe, the Los Angeles and Orange county administration would start an awareness program in early March. They would ask the people to wrap their medicaments and put them in the trash, instead of flushing it down the public water distribution system.