Comment submitted by Madelyn Ciasullo-Tortu
AnonymousOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter argues against including abortion medication and birth control on the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List. They contend that these are FDA-approved medications present only in trace amounts from human use and that the EPA should instead focus on industrial chemicals and heavy metals.
Abortion medication and birth control are being mischaracterized as “contaminants” in drinking water discussions. These are FDA-approved medications used in legitimate medical care and family planning, not environmental pollutants.
Their presence in water systems occurs only in trace amounts from normal human use and wastewater, not from contamination events or industrial discharge.
Including them in “contaminant” framing is misleading and politicized. EPA focus should remain on real environmental hazards with demonstrated risk—industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and pathogens—not routine medications at trace levels.