The non-medical use of anabolic steroids by mature, consenting adults, whether for appearance- or performance-enhancing purposes, is one thing that doesn’t particularly trouble me. The voluntary consumption of steroids by consenting teenagers is more problematic. But it still does not represent a public health crisis.
According to a recent AP probe, there are steroid hormones in our drinking water. The presence of pharmaceuticals including steroids in our public water supply is significantly more important than steroids in baseball. Not only does is point to the hypocrisy of our doped culture attacking doped athletes, but more importantly, it represents a serious threat to children, infants, and developing fetuses whose endocrine systems are particularly vulnerable to pharmaceuticals that act as endocrine disruptors.
This is yet another example where our obsession with steroids in baseball overshadows more serious issues. The involuntary exposure of individuals to steroid hormones, pharmaceuticals and potential endocrine disruptors via our water supply during critical developmental periods represents a real public health crisis. Certainly, steroids in our drinking water is more importantant than steroids in baseball?
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
Furthermore, the government doesn’t require testing for pharmaceuticals. As a result, the majority of the nation’s water suppliers do not testing public drinking water for pharmaceutical contaminants in spite of the fact that the majority of the sources for the drink water supply are contaminated with pharmaceuticals. The ones that do test the water often withhold this information from the public for various reasons, including “post-9/11” concerns! The withholding of information is another reason for concern.
For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed.
The ones that do reveal the testing results provide alarming information (“AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water” March 9):
Officials in Philadelphia said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city’s watersheds.
Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.
A sex hormone was detected in San Francisco’s drinking water.
The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.
Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to Tucson, Ariz.
Sadly, I am certain this story will be buried within a couple of days. Yet, the steroids in baseball saga will continue to compete for national headlines, Congressional grandstanding opportunities, and federal funding.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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