I blame it on the Prozac Abuse. 61 million prescriptions for anti-depressants in 2004 apparently... That's over 20% of the total US population wired on anti-depressants, *MOST* of which have a side effect of paranoia. The Mass Media doesn't help much quite frankly. "No News is Good News", right ?
As for CR... Yeah, a fair number of studies have revealed that Pharmaceuticals are building up in water supply.
http://www.ctnow.com/outdoors/hc-fi...7,0,1842335.story?coll=hce-headlines-outdoors
The Observer published an article last year regarding the topic. Interestingly the DWI (ho ho) published a pre-release with no supporting research that claimed the Observer's article was wrong and that water treatment processes break down the pharmaceuticals anyway. That was a rather bold statement to make on the back of no references or peer-reviewed research. In fact it's downright weak given the nature of the Observer's source and the body of research that confirms it.
While it is true that water treatment plants do break down a fair amount of the various pharmaceuticals, research shows that some (in particular Prozac) don't get broken down at all. Not even your body (a masterpiece of a chemistry set) is able to break it down. Prozac exits the body intact in your Urine and from there into the water supply. Eventually it'll end up in your drinking water.
I am deeply concerned by these people claiming that the amounts too small to be measurable. It is possible for just one microgramme of Plutonium to kill you stone dead. It is possible for just 5 microgrammes of LSD-25 to alter your judgement and perception.
Nice thought, huh ?