Monday, March 10, 2008

Saturn in Virgo and Challenges to our Health

Virgo is associated with health because it generally is concerned with matters of hygiene and balance between the mind, body and spirit. With Saturn in Virgo we are likely to see more issues like this in the mainstream news:

More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe — even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.

For example, in Canada, a study of 20 Ontario drinking water treatment plants by a national research institute found nine different drugs in water samples. Japanese health officials in December called for human health impact studies after detecting prescription drugs in drinking water at seven different sites.

In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.

Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs — and flushing them unmetabolized or unused — in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.

"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.

The last time Saturn was in Virgo, between 1978 and 1980, residents of Love Canal near Niagara Falls in New York were tested after it was noticed that a growing number of children born there had birth defects. The Superfund (CERCLA) Act was enacted in 1980 to compensate communities from environmental disasters.

There are also disturbing findings coming out about the effect of simulated sex hormones that are leaking into the environment. A recent study found that the songs of starlings who fed on earthworms that were contaminated by sex hormones from sewage treatment plants showed a change in their vocalization patterns, resulting in a more complex pattern that pleased the ladies but weakened the birds' immune systems.

And the debate over plastic bottles, which have been found to release chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body especially from heated or acidic fluids, has emerged into mainstream media.

Virgo is conservative and likes things the old fashioned way. Organic food from real farms, health that comes through healthy living rather than pharmaceuticals. It's not easy to live this way in today's world, but Saturn will no doubt show us where we are coming up short.
Posted by Lynn Hayes :: 7:50 AM :: |

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