Do we know if estrogen (besides other drugs) in the water supply is a significant problem?... Some research:

Do we know if estrogen in the water supply is a significant problem? What are its major sources? How does this relate to morality and politics? Some research:

► The next abortion fight could be over wastewater regulation Abortion opponents plan to use environmental laws to curb access to pills used to terminate an early pregnancy. The new approach comes as the pills mifepristone and misoprostol, which people can take at home during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, have become the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and virtually the only option for millions of people in states with laws that have forced clinics to close since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

The first salvo started last week with a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to require any doctor who prescribes the pills to be responsible for disposing of the fetal tissue — which anti-abortion advocates want to be bagged and treated as medical waste rather than flushed down the toilet and into the wastewater. If the FDA ignores or rejects the petition, as is expected, the group Students for Life of America plans to sue. (https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/23/abortion-pills-opponents-environmental-laws-00070603)

► When Exposed to Estrogen, Fish Generate Fewer Males OCT 26, 2020 Life on earth relies on the roughly three percent of water on the planet that is drinkable. And clean water sources are being stressed. Researchers have now found that if water is contaminated with even low levels of human hormones, fish that live in that water can suffer profound effects. New work reported in Aquatic Toxicology has used a freshwater fish called least killifish to show that estrogen concentrations of only 5 nanograms per liter resulted in the generation of fewer males and reduced numbers of offspring in general in a laboratory habitat.

"Anything you flush down the toilet or put in the sink will get in the water supply," said study author and biologist Latonya Jackson, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor. "Our wastewater treatment systems are good at removing a lot of things, but they weren't designed to remove pharmaceuticals," Jackson said. "So when women on birth control or hormone therapy go to the bathroom, it gets flushed into wastewater treatment plants."

These impacts aren't only felt by fish, noted Jackson. Chemicals like hormones can build up in water sources and eventually end up in drinking water. (https://www.labroots.com/trending/cell-and-molecular-biology/19025/exposed-estrogen-fish-generate-fewer-males)

► Today, nearly 27 percent of American women who are avoiding pregnancy take a birth control pill [approximately 50 million women worldwide], a dose of synthetic estrogen that tricks a woman's body's endocrine system and suppresses ovulation. That one variety of pill, taken for 21 days out of every 28, adds over 10 million doses to America's wastewater every day.

In addition to the women taking birth control pills, there are millions of other women beyond childbearing age who take estrogen and other hormone supplements to help moderate the effects of menopause.

Beyond estrogen from birth control pills and farm animals, there is another potentially massive source of estrogen that is likely getting into source water. Dr. Luke Iwanowicz, a U.S. Geological Survey research biologist, explained how some benign lab creations are also adding to the threat of estrogen, or estrogen-like, exposure. Although these chemicals were engineered in labs for an entirely different purpose than to serve as or to mimic estrogen, "they have the capacity," Iwanowicz says, "to interfere with the normal functioning of the body, including reproductive and sexual health, as well as other possible consequences, like obesity, diabetes, and behavioral issues." (excerpt from "Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink"by Seth M. Siegel. Copyright ©2019 by the author; https://www.ehn.org/troubled-water-estrogen-and-its-doppelgangers-2641102160.html)

Therapeutic Drug Use

Percent of persons using at least one prescription drug in the past 30 days: 48.6% (2015-2018)
Percent of persons using three or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days: 24.0% (2015-2018)
Percent of persons using five or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days: 12.8% (2015-2018)
Number of drugs provided or prescribed: 1.0 billion

Number of drugs given or prescribed: 353.8 million Percent of visits involving drug therapy: 71.9% (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeutic.htm) 

 ► ESTROGEN IN THE WATER SUPPLY Estrogen in Water Supply: An Assessment of the Presence of Estrogenic Compounds in Drinking Water and Associated Human Health Risks, Submitted by Hayley Torres, Oakland University

[Excerpts]Although natural estrogen is present in the environment as a naturally occurring hormone found in various organisms, the rise in synthetic estrogen levels in the environment is a concerning risk factor (Adeel et al., 2017). Industrialization and pharmaceutical development sparked an increase in the use of estrogenic compounds and estrogen-like substances, creating an increase of estrogen contamination within the environment due to the excretion and disposal of these compounds (Wise, O’Brien, & Woodruff, 2010).

The sources of these substances include chemicals such as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, animal hormones in agriculture, pharmaceuticals like birth control pills, and in fertilizer for plants, amongst many other uses.

Of particular interest is endocrine disrupting chemicals and its impact on human health because these chemicals can mimic naturally occurring estrogen and build up over time (Demasi & Collins, 2015).... Current gaps in the research indicate that the present levels found in drinking water supplies are largely unknown due to a lack of widespread monitoring and research (Adeel et al., 2017)...

Current literature lacks a definitive association of thecurrent levels of estrogenic compounds in drinking water and its effects on human health...The inability of estrogen compounds to fully biodegrade can cause buildup in the environment (Lecomte, 2017). Humans excrete estrogenic compounds from urine and feces and use products that release estrogen compounds into the environment at a rate of about 30,000 kg/year and agriculture and livestock release estrogenic compounds via urine, feces, fertilizers and antibiotics, and more at a rate of over 83,000 kg/year which means that these levels can breach into the environment at alarming rates (Lecomte, 2017). Widespread use of estrogenic compounds within various products and services establishes a way for the estrogen to get into the environment through various mechanisms and accumulate over time (Lecomte, 2017)...

Over 86,000 chemicals are used in U.S. commerce (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2020) including chemicals used in foods, plastics, electronics, makeup products, books, household items, canned goods, and most other consumer products. While much is known about the exposures and health impacts of lead, for example, there are less comprehensive data on other chemicals such as endocrine disrupting chemicals. Hormones are key to human development and functioning but many issues arise such as when endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), synthetic compounds that can mimic natural hormones, interfere with normal processing (Frick, 2012). Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in various widely used plastics, is just one example that can mimic naturally occurring estrogen due to their structural similarities (Barrett, 2014).

Products that contain some derivatives of estrogen or estrogen-like compounds are more widespread than initially thought to be (Frick, 2012).... current literature often fails to compile together various sources to definitely assess and elucidate the current problem, associated health concerns, and the implications of current actions....

Estrogen contamination comes from livestock runoff through the use of synthetic hormones called exogenous hormones that help with meat and dairy farming, and other agricultural processes with the use of hormones to help with better growth (Chighizola & Meroni, 2011). Samples of poultry farming runoffs were shown to include high levels of estrogen hormone 17β‐estradiol as well as other chemicals such as aluminum sulfate (Nichols et al., 1997). Other research indicates the presence of estrogenic compounds used to promote animal growth like estradiol, testosterones, trenbolone acetate, melengestrol acetate, and zeranol in runoff and surrounding farm areas (Qu et al., 2012)...

Agriculture runoff deals with contaminated water leaving the animal farms and breeching into the environment and other systems from fecal waste, ponds containing waste and manure fertilizers used for crops...

Common contraceptive pills taken by millions of women often include natural estrogen and progestin combined with synthetic ethinyl estradiol (Wise et al., 2010)....Estrogenic compounds are excreted into the water supply either due to urine and fecal excretion, runoff from household products, contamination with disposed products, or disposing of unused pills in improper ways (Wise et al., 2010). Research shows that there is an increased number of women taking the pill which has caused an increased level found in the environment. All of these additional estrogenic compounds get into the environment via a wastewater treatment plant that becomes part of the water supply used by humans (University of Minnesota, 2017)...

The current available detection limits are not indicative of the actual level that may cause harm since they are found at levels that are known to potentially cause harm, meaning that estrogenic compounds of concern may continue to go unnoticed. A better detection limit is necessary to detect the trace amounts of potentially harmful compounds.... Of specific interest is the Ethinylestradiol, EE2, a synthetic estrogen and its prevalence in the water supply as this becomes a rising concern as more studies are indicating the elevated levels found within the environment....The levels present in the water supply are often not removed by comprehensive filtering systems for wastewater due to low concentrations, yet over time the long-term accumulation of these levels may have serious implications....

The rise in estrogen levels within the drinking water has created a shift in reproductive and hormonal levels in individuals which has altered some basic biological functions (Adeel et al., 2017). ...Estrogenic compounds are known to increase infertility rates too (Vilela et al., 2018). (https://our.oakland.edu/bitstream/handle/10323/11433/Torres%2C%20Hayley%20-%20Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)