Study Say's Think Twice: Chicago Tap Water Contains Trace Chemicals

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A new study by the Chicago Tribune might make you think twice before taking a drink of tap water. The report says you could be gulping down small amounts of drugs and chemicals along with that H2O.

As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, it's the second recent study that shows our water purification systems aren't filtering out everything.

Ryan Russell is one of the 7 million people in the Chicago area who drinks treated water from Lake Michigan – water that he's just learned still contains trace amounts of drugs and chemicals.

"I think that's awful, actually," Russell said. "You would imagine that water would be safe to drink, safe to bathe in."

And Chicago officials say it is, but a Tribune-financed study found tiny amounts of an anti-seizure medication, caffeine, acetaminophen and two chemicals used to make Teflon and Scotchguard in water it sampled.

The paper hired a lab to do the testing after the city refused to the testing on its own.

Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna with the Chicago Department of Environment says Chicagoans should not worry about their tap water and that the trace amounts are incredibly small.

"One part per trillion is equivalent to one second in 32,000 years," Malec-McKenna said.

Still Malec-McKenna says the department is not taking the problem lightly.

"The fact that there are trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in our water is something that we all take very seriously and something we are looking to see when would it get to threshold of concern," she said.

Les Moshinsky is allergic to some antibiotics so he's concerned enough to call for new legislation.

He's doing his part by properly disposing of potentially hazardous household materials at one of the city's designated drop off sites.

"I had some chemicals I had accumulated like anti-freeze and I didn't want to throw them in the trash," Moshinsky said.

Tap water that was strained through a home purifier didn't turn up any contaminants, so that is an inexpensive option for Chicagoans concerned about their drinking water.