May 10, 2008 6:09 pm US/Central
Officials: City Water Safe To Drink Despite DEET
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
City testing of Chicago's drinking water has turned up small amounts of a man-made drug and the insect repellent DEET, but officials said Friday that city water is safe to drink.
"Right now there is no research out there that shows there's any harmful health effect from the components we found at very low levels," said John Spatz, commissioner of the city's Water Management Department.
The city testing found a trace amount of the drug gemfibrozil, typically used to treat blood triglycerides, in both treated and untreated water. Carbamazepine, often prescribed to control seizures, was found in untreated water, Spatz said.
Spatz cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from a single set of tests, which found carbamazepine at a South Side water treatment plant but not at the plant next to Navy Pier. Continued monthly testing -- using multiple labs -- should begin to give a more accurate picture, Spatz said.
"Our water is safe to drink," Spatz said. "All the experts agree the water is safe to drink. This is an emerging issue and we will continue to follow it."
Water testing done for a Chicago Sun-Times story published in April found small amounts of DEET -- 8.3 parts per trillion -- in a sample of unfiltered city tap water.
Water quality experts say small doses of individual drugs likely aren't harmful, but it's unknown what impact combinations of chemical compounds might have over time.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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