Doherty Calls for Study of NJ Water Supply

Cites Studies from Around the U.S. that Found Traces of Pharmaceuticals in Water Supplies

Concerned that the state’s water may be contaminated with dangerous pharmaceutical by-products, Assemblyman Michael Doherty today called on the Legislature to authorize a study of New Jersey’s water supplies.

Citing studies conducted by Baylor University scientists which found fluoxetine – the active ingredient in Prozac – in the muscles, livers and brains of fish and other aquatic creatures near a Texas water treatment facility in 2003, Doherty said the findings raise a red flag here in New Jersey which is home to several of the world’s major pharmaceutical firms.

“The pharmaceutical industry has exploded during the past few years,” noted Doherty. “More and more people are using prescription drugs for a vast variety of physical as well as mental ailments. You have to wonder where the byproducts are ending up. Unfortunately, our water supplies are a very likely candidate. As a result, the Legislature should move quickly to authorize a study of the state’s water supplies to determine what, if any, pharmaceuticals are contaminating our water and to what degree.”

According to an article in Field and Stream, the Baylor University study is the first to prove that antidepressants, which entered the water in urine or from pills flushed down the toilet, can accumulate in the tissue of fish and other aquatic creatures. The article added that in 2002, a U.S. Geological Survey found that 80 percent of 138 streams tested in 30 states contained traces of a variety of pharmaceuticals.

“These studies are definitely cause for alarm, especially in a state that supposedly has gone to great lengths to protect its water,” said Doherty, R-Warren and Hunterdon, referring to the 2004 Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act.

“The state seized most of the land in our district claiming protection of fresh water as its motivation. If that’s the case, then this is a no-brainer,” he continued. “If these compounds are appearing in fish tissue in other states, then certainly similar studies are needed here to determine if we are ingesting a drug cocktail without a prescription every time we turn on our tap water.”

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