| By the time you finish reading this article, you will | | | | Unfortunately, there are a lot more than |
| know the answer to a question I have been getting | | | | pharmaceuticals in water supply systems around the |
| a lot. Does reverse osmosis remove pharmaceuticals | | | | country. Most of these toxins can be removed with |
| from water? | | | | a dual stage purifier as mentioned above. |
| The reason this question is coming up so often is | | | | However, there is one known health threat requires |
| that testing has revealed a variety of prescription | | | | an additional step. They are called cysts and they |
| and non-prescription pharmaceuticals have been | | | | float through the system undetected. |
| discovered in water supply samples taken from | | | | Cysts are about the size of a speck of dust on a |
| around the United States. | | | | pinhead. They are highly resistant to any purification |
| The most shocking example was 56 different | | | | system except one. Once ingested, they grow within |
| pharmaceuticals in water supply samples taken in | | | | the human digestive tract, causing a parasitic |
| Philadelphia. Typically, only one drug was found. | | | | infection. The resulting illness can cause death in some |
| Sometimes the drug was "unspecified", so there's no | | | | cases. |
| way to know what effect it could have on your | | | | The answer to does reverse osmosis remove |
| health. | | | | pharmaceuticals from water is "no", but does the |
| Suppliers conducting the testing don't report the | | | | system remove cysts? It depends on the size of the |
| results to the public. They don't feel it's necessary. | | | | pores in the membrane. Submicron filtration is needed |
| Someone might overreact. | | | | to remove cysts. Some RO units filter down to one |
| I find that kind of thinking offensive and I hope you | | | | micron. Others do not. |
| do too. In my opinion, most people want to know | | | | The ones that do are quite a bit more expensive |
| what's in their drinking water so that they can take | | | | than a dual stage chemical filter with a submicron |
| any precautions necessary to protect their health. | | | | sized porous structure. Even a product that also |
| Now back to the question: Does reverse osmosis | | | | includes ion exchange to remove metallic ions, like |
| remove pharmaceuticals from water? RO is one of | | | | lead and copper, is less expensive than RO. |
| the choices for home purification devices. It is only | | | | If you have a multi-stage system on your kitchen |
| one step in a complete purification process. If you | | | | faucet, you never have to worry again about |
| are serviced by a treatment facility, it is an | | | | pharmaceuticals in water supply tests. If you have |
| expensive, wasteful and largely unnecessary step. | | | | one on your showerhead, you can further reduce the |
| The pharmaceuticals in water supply tanks are | | | | risks of exposure to cancer causing chemical |
| chemical compounds. Reverse osmosis does not | | | | compounds that are, in actuality, an even greater |
| target chemical compounds. Dual stage granulated | | | | health threat than the drugs. |
| carbon and multi-media blocks target chemicals. If | | | | As you shop, remember that the answer to: "Does |
| you are concerned about the drugs and other | | | | reverse osmosis remove pharmaceuticals from |
| chemical contaminants, you need a purifier with the | | | | water" is a resounding "No". |
| dual stage system. | | | | Now that you know this, I hope that you will take |
| I think you can see that the one word answer to | | | | the time to learn more and discover as I have, a |
| the question, does reverse osmosis remove | | | | water purification system that protects you and your |
| pharmaceuticals from water is "NO". | | | | family. |