UK 'to test tap water' for prescription drugs contamination

The UK government is to test supplies of tap water as of next year in a bid to monitor it for traces of prescription drugs, it has been announced.

Initiated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the project will take place at several strategic points along UK rivers next year.

It is thought that prescription medication, specifically cancer-treating, or "cytotoxic" drugs, may not be broken down sufficiently by the filtering methods currently in place in the country.

"We have no evidence that these particular drugs are entering the drinking water supply", said water quality specialist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Andrew Johnson.

However, he added that there may be a "theoretical risk of low-level contamination" due to the medication.

Water contamination may occur when drugs are unwittingly flushed away or patients being treated for cancer use the toilet.

In similar developments, the river Eden in Scotland was thought to be at risk of contamination after a fire in a rubber factory leaked toxic wastewater into one of its tributaries.