Earlier this year a report came out showing that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals -- everything from ibuprofen to birth control pills -- are showing up in America's drinking water. Today, water agencies and consumers are still grappling with some unanswered questions: Do these tiny amounts of drugs pose any health risk? And if so, what can we do about them?
Are we in danger of running out of water? California's population is growing by 600,000 people a year, but much of the state receives as much annual rainfall as Morocco. With fish populations crashing, global warming, and the demands of the country's largest agricultural industry, the pressures on our water supply are increasing.
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QUEST is a production of KQED. Major funding is provided by the National Science Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Foundation, and The Amgen Foundation. Additional support is provided by the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation, Ann S. Bowers - The Robert Noyce Trust, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, and the Vadasz Family Foundation.
