Hormones in drinking water or Tapwater

Hormones in the human body

However, hormones are not negative in the first place, but vital. The easiest way to think of them is as a kind of "post system" in the body that transports information with instructions. Hormones are chemical signaling and messenger substances that regulate numerous bodily functions in the human body, such as

• blood pressure,
• the water balance
• or the blood sugar level.

As hormones control important vital functions in the human body, it is important to differentiate between natural and artificially supplied hormones.

Precisely because they play a crucial role in human life, some of the best-known hormones include ...

• the two sex hormones oestrogen and testosterone,
• Insulin (blood sugar),
• Adrenaline (heart rate, blood pressure, "fight-or-flight" response)³)
• and serotonin (colloquially known as the "happiness hormone").

But what effect do artificially administered hormones have on the human body? These do not necessarily have to have negative effects. Nevertheless, hormones that are not produced naturally in the body can also have enormously harmful consequences for humans.

Scenarios & examples of artificially administered hormones

The consumption of chocolate is a good example of why the distinction between hormones and endocrine disruptors is so important for understanding the topic.

If you want to understand the effect of hormones in the environment and on humans, you need to know the difference between the actual hormones and hormone-active substances that ...

• either act like hormones themselves
• or influence the hormonal balance.

These non-genuine hormones are also referred to as endocrine disruptors or endocrine disruptors. According to the German Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation, endocrine disruptors are defined as follows:

WHO and UNEP ⁸ provide an overview of chemical categories of substances with proven or potential endocrine effects (= endocrine disruptors). The substances were identified on the basis of existing reviews and authoritative reports: Behind them are more than 50 substances with complicated terms, some of which have now been banned and are barely known by name. For example

• Polychlorinated or polybrominated biphenyls, hexachlorobenzene,
• Chlordane, toxaphene, lindane, endosulfan, levonorgestrel
• and much more. (The full list of fabrics can be found here.)⁹

These and other hormone-active substances are found in ...

The intake of these "endocrine disruptors"⁹ or hormone-active substances into the human body essentially takes place - according to the WHO - via three routes:

• Food and liquids (e.g. if they have come into contact with pesticides or plastics)
• Skin contact (e.g. with cosmetics, pesticides, treated textiles, industrially manufactured cleaning agents)
• Inhalation (e.g. abrasion from plastics or tires in urban areas, pesticides during gardening or field work)

It is not harmless when hormones or endocrine disruptors end up in drinking water. But how do hormones actually get into the Tapwater of German households? The three main sources are

• Incorrectly disposed of medication (e.g. via toilet or sink)
• Industrial waste (chemical industry)
• Female urine (birth control pill)

The problem is that many residues are not (or cannot be) filtered by wastewater treatment plants and then also affect neighboring bodies of water (rivers or lakes). And once hormones are in the water cycle, they can also end up in drinking water.

In addition to the contraceptive pill and medicines, there are also the chemical industry products mentioned above: widely used plasticizers or hardeners in the plastics industry, pesticides in Tapwater and cosmetics can also be endocrine disruptors. Due to the industrial development of the last 150 years, we are surrounded by ever increasing quantities of such chemicals!

Their exact effect on humans is still being researched, but known clinical pictures range from fertility disorders, behavioral changes and mental illnesses to suspected cancer-causing effects.

Endocrinological societies and the WHO consider it proven that endocrine disruptors contribute to various diseases and disorders in humans. Among them:

• the development of hormone-sensitive cancers,
• metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus,
• Infertility
• and neuronal developmental disorders.

In the view of these specialist societies, embryos, fetuses and children are particularly at risk. As early as 1995, research into hormone-like compounds began in the USA as one of five national priorities. Over 200 such substances are now known.⁷

If an adolescent comes into contact with such a substance at the wrong time, this can lead to permanent functional disorders and organ defects. For example, disorders in pubertal development often have hormonal causes.¹¹

In a recent review on the health risks of endocrine disruptors¹²over 1800 scientific studies were included. As examples of endocrine disruptors that (may) be linked to diseases, the WHO and UNEP list⁸ list the following examples.

Traces of hormone-active substances are not only found in Tapwater. Bottled mineral water can also contain hormones such as oestrogen. Biologist Martin Wagner from the Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main carried out tests on 20 brands of mineral water and came to some revealing conclusions.

• From the researchers' point of view, the mixture of different hormone-active substances proved to be particularly problematic.
• Samples of twelve mineral waters contained chemicals that activate the human receptor for oestrogen.

In an interview, Martin Wagner explains that the samples found in the mineral waters had an effect equivalent to that of 18 mg of the natural hormone estrogen dissolved in one liter of water. ¹³

Water from PET bottles was particularly frequently contaminated. Part of the hormonal contamination probably comes from the plastic packaging, which releases microplastics. Bisphenol A, an oestrogen-like hormone-active substance, appears to be problematic here. A Swiss study also examined mineral water for hormonal contamination and came to very similar conclusions. ¹⁴

The exact consequences of this exposure for humans have not yet been fully researched. However, research into contaminated fish stocks provides a good insight into the effects of oestrogens. German anglers, for example, are familiar with the effect that entire fish stocks near sewage treatment plants become feminized - due to the high hormonal load of oestrogen.

As part of the aforementioned study, researcher Martin Wagner explained:

Zoologists from Tyrol and Spain have even demonstrated this effect in high mountain lakes. The environmental toxin hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and other chemicals that are difficult to break down apparently find their way there via the air.¹⁵

In fact, such hormone contamination in surface waters is now not uncommon. The German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (BUND) has been working intensively on hormone pollution in water and the consequences for fish and amphibians and has been sounding the alarm for years.

• artificial estrogens such as alpha-ethinyl estradiol,
• Clofibric acid,
• Phytoestrogens (plant-based active ingredients)
• and industrial chemicals.⁷

Unfortunately, hormones in drinking water cannot be detected without special scientific measuring devices - LC-MS detectors (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry). However, if you want to be on the safe side (and not have your Tapwater tested in a laboratory), you can filter your drinking water. But which filter method is the right one for hormones?

Hormones can be effectively removed from Tapwater using activated carbon filters, reverse osmosis or distillation. Although reverse osmosis and distillation are highly efficient, they are cost-intensive. With distillation, the container used must also be thoroughly cleaned. Filtering with an ion exchanger is not sufficient to filter pharmaceutical residues and hormones from the water.

There are therefore good reasons to take protective measures against contamination with hormone-like substances. There are plans at a political level within the EU. However, until these are substantiated, we can only take our own measures. For a better understanding, it is important to know how the problematic substances get into our water and where they can be found.

Such substances are not filtered in sewage treatment plants, so they end up in rivers and surface water. In contrast to nitrates, endocrine disruptors are hardly broken down. In the end, oestrogens, endocrine disruptors and other hormones find their way into drinking water.

Oestrogen, which is absorbed via the contraceptive pill or other medication, for example, cannot be completely broken down by the human body and enters the water cycle through excretions. As a result, it can find its way into our drinking water.

How many hormones are in Tapwater?

There is no general answer to this question: it depends on how many hormones or endocrine disruptors, e.g. from the chemical industry or drug residues, enter the water cycle and thus the drinking water.

Can hormones be filtered out of the water?

Activated carbon filters can filter endocrine disruptors from drinking water. The activated carbon reliably adsorbs residues of medicines and hormones. You can find out more about this in the Guidebook on water filters for hormones.

How can hormones get into drinking water?

The main cause of hormones in Tapwater is the incorrect disposal of medicines in the toilet or sink. Other sources include industrial waste (chemical industry) and female urine (birth control pills).

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