Dosed Without Prescription: A Framework for Preventing Pharmaceutical Contamination of Our Nation's Drinking Water

摘要

The presence of Pharmaceuticals in our waterways and drinking water is a serious problem that has gained national attention with the public, lawmakers, and regulators. Identifying effective and efficient solutions is hampered by the complexity of the problem-multiple sources contribute, only some of which are regulated, often by multiple federal agencies pursuant to various legal authorities. Furthermore, significant data gaps mean that individual sources of contamination point the finger at each other without much substantiation. Advocacy groups, drinking water utilities, and government officials have introduced different initiatives to address this situation resulting in a scattershot of partial solutions rather than an overarching strategy.