‘Life-saving’ AIDS drug Zidovudine has now been added to the list of environmental toxins that needed to be monitored in drinking water, because of its cancer-causing properties, according to the State of California’s Environmental Protection Agency. In their report dated 18^th December 2009, Zidovudine, still most widely known by its original abbreviated name AZT (Azidothymidine) was added to the list with no recognised maximum safe limit declared.

Why would the notion of AZT being in drinking water be a concern? How would it get there? The problem is that when a person takes any drug, quite often not all of it is broken down and utilised within the body, and some is passed out by the body in its original state. AZT even accumulates in semen, according to a Norwegian study, for instance.

This almost inevitably finds its way into the waste water supply which in an increasing number of places, ultimately gets processed into drinking water to some extent. The problem there is that the kind of processes used by water companies that were originally intended to deal with bacteria and other unclean elements, are not necessarily going to be effective against the increasing variety and quantity of pharmaceutical drugs that either get pissed, washed, or flushed into the waste water system.