Fluorinated Drugs, a Type of PFAS, Contaminate Drinking Water for 23M in US

By Douglas Main | The New Lede | January 13, 2025

Read the full article by Douglas Main (The New Lede)

"New research suggests that fluorinated pharmaceuticals — a category that includes well-known medications such as Prozac and Flonase — are showing up in the water supply of millions of people. These drugs and their breakdown products are technically classified as being per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” which as a chemical class is the subject of worldwide health concern.

A study published January 6 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the bulk of PFAS entering and exiting wastewater treatment plants is made up of these fluorinated drugs. Notably, the researchers determined that the pharmaceuticals were largely not removed from the water by conventional wastewater treatment practices.

This pharmaceutical material “doesn’t get treated in the wastewater treatment plant, and it doesn’t break down,” said Bridger Ruyle, study co-author and researcher at New York University. “And we know [these chemicals] can be re-entering drinking water supplies.”