Rather bizarre extrapolations about the presence of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor Prozac in water and the development of "autism" in fish hit the headlines recently and were quickly debunked by science bloggers around the world. Nevertheless, the presence of pharmaceuticals in the water supply is an ongoing issue and has been during the last two decades of this authors reporting on the subject and for many years before that. It is important to know what drugs are present, in what quantities and whether any particular parts of the globe are affected more significantly than others.
Spanish researchers have tested tap drinking water for various drugs, both legal and illicit, in Europe, Japan and South America. Their analysis revealed the presence of caffeine, nicotine, cotinine, cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine, methadone and its metabolite EDDP but only in ultratrace amounts at the detection limits of their instruments.
Drugs on tap: Ultratrace detection.