The alarm raised by the researchers of the Mario Negri institute in Milan. "At the moment there is no risk for the quality and safety of drinking water, but it is important to take action to stem the problem"
Medicines, hormones, drugs of abuse, disinfectants and cosmetics. And again, caffeine and nicotine. They are the 'emerging contaminants', foreign substances that are increasingly found in our waters, especially in surface waters. In the Po alone, almost 2.5 tons of drugs end up in the river. Their concentrations do not currently endanger the safety of drinking water, "but we must not let our guard down because there are still no rules or standards to control their diffusion". This was reported by the experts of the Mario Negri Institute, in a research project co-financed by the Cariplo Foundation.
The researchers, in collaboration with the Metropolitana Milanese company, which manages the integrated water service in Milan, studied the emerging contaminants both in groundwater (including drinking water) and in surface water such as rivers. The Lambro, in particular, after having crossed the Milan area and up to its mouth in the Po "has a very high polluting load to which these contaminants are added". "As for drugs, for example - the scientists explain - a load of about one kilogram per day has been calculated considering the sum of all drugs, already present in the waters of the rivers entering Milan, to which are added about 2.7 kilograms remaining in the purified water of the three city purifiers and another 2.8 which are presumably poured into the waters of the river network outside the city of Milan or directly into the Lambro, especially in the southern area of the province".
In a year, almost 2.5 tons of drugs end up in the Po, a third of which attributable to Milanese residues. "Our results - comments Ettore Zuccato, head of the Mario Negri nutrition toxicology laboratory - exclude any risk for the quality and safety of drinking water according to the parameters set by law. However, connections are beginning to be seen, probably also due to the various human interventions
