Artificial sweeteners found in river water and drinking supplies

[Redfairen]

Source: LA Times

Canadian researchers think they have found a great way to trace the travels of treated sewage after it is discharged into rivers: Follow the artificial sweeteners.

The scientists found elevated concentrations of four sweeteners - cyclamate, saccharin, sucralose, and acesulfame – in water samples collected along the length of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada.
 
Commonly used in diet drinks, the sweeteners got into the Grand by way of the 30 sewage treatment plants that empty into the river and its tributaries.

The research, detailed in a paper published Dec. 11 in the online journal PLOS ONE, adds to a growing body of evidence that people are spiking waterways and their drinking supplies with an array of compounds that pass through not just them, but even advanced treatment systems.


Read more: http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-78544128/

[hollysmom]

1. When you throw it down the drain it does not disappear.

We need that start trekkie thing where everything is atomized and reconstructed.

[SoapBox]

2. Yikes...

Along with all the prescription medications.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. How many here have heard this?

"Who's soda is this?"

"Doesn't matter, it's old and flat. Dump it."

Down the drain it goes.

Then the can goes into the recycle because the environment is an issue.