Newswise — Dr. Craig Adams, the John and Susan Mathes Missouri Chair of Environmental Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, is available to the media to comment on the Associated Press investigation into drugs found in the nation's drinking water supplies. Adams and three colleagues received the Rudolph Hering Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2003 for his research into the removal of antibiotics in drinking water. The research could become instrumental if governmental agencies require regulation of antibiotics in the future.
"Clearly, the most important concern is that humans could become exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria," Adams says. "The role of antibiotics in drinking water treatment plants in the formation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is currently unknown. However, the formation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment is one of the most important public health issues for the new century."
Adams' study shows that while many surface and groundwater supplies in the United States contain antibiotics, commonly used water treatment processes should be able to remove those antibiotics effectively, should health and environmental officials one day require and regulate their removal.
"Many other pharmaceuticals may even be of greater concern in drinking water," Adams says. "For example, hormonally-active compounds such as estrogens have powerful effects on human metabolism even at extremely low concentrations. Analgesics, cytostatics and antipsychotic drugs in drinking water are also of particular concern."
Recent research by Adams and others has pointed towards the best ways to control and remove pharmaceuticals from drinking water. "This is important if it is determined that pharmaceuticals need to be removed from the drinking water due to health effects or regulatory requirements," Adams says.
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