Making Your Drink

       Water is the source of life on Earth and keeps our world running. Seeing as water is so important to the organisms it feeds, it is therefore very important to keep this necessary resource safe and clean. However, water is not being kept in a clean state. In past years, pollution has become a huge concern, and the substance that sustains us is now harming our bodies. The worth part of this issue is that we as people are destroying the substance that we need the most. Among the many water-related dangers, a new and publicly unknown pollutant is appearing. Girls are experiencing puberty at unnatural points, women are having trouble bearing children, and research has shown an increase in the birth percentage of females. Scientists are saying these problems are due to an unsafe amount of the hormone estrogen in the water.

            So how does estrogen find its way into the water? The sources are debatable, but scientists know that the public is the main cause. Products like oral contraceptives are rapidly gaining popularity in our country. Since they prevent menstruation in the female body, they are the best-known way to keep women from getting pregnant. Hormones are put into these medications in order to control the reproductive system, and in this case the hormones are estrogen. Other uses of estrogen by humans are to help women in pregnancy, relieve menstrual pain, and increase hormone production.

            Seeing as estrogen is so widely used and even considered necessary for the health of some people, it is difficult for doctors to keep people from using it. With all its capabilities, how could estrogen possibly be detrimental to humans? The answer lies in what happens after estrogen-based products are consumed. Estrogen does not get broken down by the human digestive system. It comes out of our bodies with waste and flows completely unharmed into our water supply. Again, people may ask why this is worrisome. We have water treatment plants for the very reason of cleaning out such pollutants. This opens up the second major part of the problem. Water treatment plants do not treat for chemicals such as estrogen. The devices needed to do so are not required by the government and are highly expensive. Water treatment plants with tight budgets will not go out of their way to drain their savings for a non-required mechanism. On top of that, the amounts of estrogen in the water are considered to be negligent according to government standards. The lack of estrogen’s prominence in our water pushes it farther away from public concern.

       Although the government chooses to ignore the small amounts of estrogen in the water, scientists are quite scared. Just like how skin slowly burns in the sun, exposure to estrogen for long periods of time will eventually harm your body. Our bodies produce and use estrogen, but adding more estrogen affects the natural balance of our hormones. Too much estrogen is unsafe. The current issues of early puberty and the increase in the female population have experimental backing to it. If you don’t believe the stories from people, take heed of the stories related to animals. Scientists have many stories about exposing estrogen to fish and watching as the entire population dies out. This does not occur due to poisoning. Estrogen hormones can change the sex of the creature that takes them in. Eventually in these experiments all the fish were females, leaving no way to reproduce. As female human birth rates trend upward, this becomes a scary realization that we need to get to work on fixing this pollutant.

       All this scientific evidence is a huge warning sign to citizens and government alike. But who is truly to blame for estrogen pollution? Deeper analysis will reveal that the responsibility lies with multiple parties. The people are creating the problem with their use of estrogen-based products, but the government isn’t doing its job to remove these pollutants. Yes it is a joint effort, but there isn’t way to fairly force either side to do what needs to be done.  Therefore, we must look for the best option.
       The two sides both have a lot of work to do. The government budget plans need to be edited to allow plants to do the necessary work. This is a matter of public health and safety, and proper funds need to be supplied. However, the government is struggling with its finances and other national issues, and most likely wants to focus on more immediate problems. Finally, water treatment plants have to work the best they can to eliminate these problems. They can accomplish this by making the problems known to the government and provide statistical data to encourage government intervention. Workers may not want to put in extra effort for less pay, but in a cooperative cleanup effort everyone must sacrifice.

       On the other side, people need to be aware of the dangers of what they put in the water. First of all, we must look at the necessity of the estrogen-based products used. If there is no way to avoid using them, we must try to find effective alternatives or safer replacements. We have to be careful with our own habits to preserve our health.

       Ultimately, the responsibility falls on the people that inhabit our country. Since the government is a large and complex organization, we cannot expect it to suddenly fund water treatment plants or initiate programs to make the water cleaner. In turn, we cannot expect the people to simply stop using estrogen-based products. However, there are things that we as citizens can to make a difference. While we wait for the government to take action and address the estrogen pollution problem, we can do our best to minimize pollution. Instead of flushing old birth control pills down the toilet, people can dispose of them properly. Many cities have organized events in which medications are dropped off, sorted, and put in places where they will do minimal harm to the environment. Some facilities now have certain trash cans where medication can be disposed of separate from everyday trash. Proper disposal methods will ensure that no unneeded pollution enters the water supply. Other small decisions will take place on a personal level. Before we use an estrogen-based product, we will have to decide if it is worth the risk of polluting the water. Aside from pollution, people can focus on purification. Although water treatment plants won’t purify the water completely, there are products available to buy and use at home. These products probably won’t be perfectly effective, but the extra purification can only help. So when the authorities fail, the responsibility falls upon the people to keep their world safe and clean. Hopefully someday we can truly collaborate, people and government, to defeat pollution problems such as estrogen. Until then, we as individuals and a people must do what we can to keep ourselves safe.