What's in your water?

The Associated Press tested public drinking water supplies around the country and found that many had traces of "a vast array" of prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. While the concentrations were minuscule, no one knows the long-term effects of ingesting these substances.

Pills taken by people are not completely absorbed in the body, the story says, and eventually small amounts of these medications make their way into the lakes, rivers and reservoirs that supply our drinking water. Doctors write 3.7 billion prescriptions a year and consumers buy another 3.3 billion packages of nonprescription drugs.

Municipalities don't test the water for pharmaceuticals and neither do bottled water suppliers. Meanwhile, antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers, sex hormones and other drugs are being ingested in the US and around the world every day. It's another unforeseen -- or disregarded -- consequence of "progress" run amok.