Do Berkey Water Filters Remove Pharmaceuticals & Hormones?

Do Berkey Water Filters Remove Pharmaceuticals & Hormones?

By Dan DeBaun

Pharmaceutical drugs and hormones are classified as emerging drinking water contaminants that have been acknowledged as an area of growing concern by the EPA. Emerging contaminants are pollutants that are ubiquitous in water sources at low levels, but very little is known about the effects that these substances have on aquatic life or human health.

The Best Way to Remove Pharmaceuticals From Water

To be able to achieve high removal rates of pharmaceuticals from the water (99%+), there are a number of different processes that will accomplish this; activated carbon filters, ozonation, advanced oxidation, and reverse osmosis filters.

So Does Berkey Remove Pharmaceuticals and Hormones?

Quick Answer: Yes, the Berkey water filter equipped with the standard black berkey filters WILL remove pharmaceuticals drugs and hormones that are found in the drinking water. Here's a quick overview table of what's been tested.

A listing of pharmaceuticals that the Berkey water filter has been tested to remove.

A listing of pharmaceuticals that the Berkey has been tested to remove. "Does a Berkey Remove Pharmaceuticals?"

There is growing concern over the presence of pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products and hormones in drinking water, and what the long term affect of exposure to these substances can have on our health. Many studies have found various types of drugs, including prescription drugs and over-the-counter medication such as aspirin and ibuprofen, as well as hormones in streams, rivers and lakes across the country.

Estrogen appears in the drinking water in the form of estradiol. It is the most potent form of estrogen, and it can enter the water supply via contraceptive pill which women excrete through urine or feces.

Of the 250 million pounds of pharmaceutical waste that is estimated to be flushed annually, a large percentage originate from hospitals and care facilities, which generate large volumes of pharmaceutical waste, as well as households and veterinary sources, for example from farm animal waste when livestock is treated with growth hormones or veterinary medication. Until recently, flushing pharmaceutical waste was common practice, and while this may no longer occur directly, drugs (medication) and hormones (for example from contraceptives) are added to wastewater indirectly when they are excreted by the body. Yet, while wastewater does get treated at a wastewater treatment plant before being discharged into the environment, wastewater treatment facilities do not have the capacity to remove most of these contaminants. As wastewater often gets discharged into rivers and lakes that provide us with drinking water, these contaminants may be present in the water you drink.

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How can you remove these pharmaceuticals from your drinking water?

If you are concerned about the health effects of exposure to emerging contaminants which in all likelihood are present in your drinking water, you can invest in a good quality home water filter that is capable of removing these contaminants. However, because home water filters are not regulated or routinely tested before being marketed to consumers, not all filters are equal.

However, while home water treatment filters are not regulated, manufacturers can undergo voluntary testing to ensure their product/s meet national standards and minimum requirements established by the NSF to ensure home water filters are capable of treating drinking water to a safe standard.

The black berkey filters have been tested for removing these emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and hormones such as ibuprofen, triclosan, caffeine and progesterone that are commonly found in drinking water. The Berkey filters were tested for 17 different drugs and hormones, with each being removed to greater than 99.5% to meet NSF Standard 42 and NSF Standard 53 for chemical reduction.

Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun

Dan DeBaun is the owner and operator of Big Berkey Water Filters. Prior to Berkey, Dan was an asset manager for a major telecommunications company. He graduated from Rutgers with an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering, followed by an MBA in finance from Rutgers as well. Dan enjoys biohacking, exercising, meditation, beach life, and spending time with family and friends.

~ The Owner of Big Berkey Water Filters

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  • Avatar of kate kate 2023-05-02 13:57:36

    When will you be testing for estradiol i usually get my clients to use a reverse osmosis filter but it would be really convenient if they could use Berkey as well but it must be proven to remove estradiol or it is a complete waste of their money

  • Avatar of Dan DeBaun Dan DeBaun 2023-05-02 14:28:12

    Hi Kate -

    Right now testing for estradiol is not planned. We will make a request for testing for this, but cannot guarantee it will be done any time in the near future.

    Thanks
    Dan

  • Avatar of jodie a brown jodie a brown 2021-09-01 08:06:50

    Ok so you use graphene to filter the water. Does any of that graphene end up in the water that is filtered by berkey filters? What happens to the graphene when this water is consumed? We have 99.93% of the vaccines for covid also have this graphene in them and its deadly. Using a deadly item to filter our water sounds like we are trading pharmaceuticals for graphene..and this is not good or even safe.

  • Avatar of Dan DeBaun Dan DeBaun 2021-09-11 00:20:47

    Hi Jodie -

    I'm not sure where you've heard that the filters use graphene. This is not the case.

    Thanks
    Dan

  • Avatar of Lydia Lydia 2020-06-27 16:50:53

    How can you make that comment. It's truly misleading. It's like saying. Yes it removes the contaminates, but we don't have the proof because we haven't done the proper testing. With that said you just like the vaccine testing. They say yes it's safe but no testing has been done to prove that it's not safe. ,"It's called double talk." Really? Understand we who have our health at State want a proven yes or no. No in-between yes or no. If you won't do the research we can take it your main objective is $$$ and not the capabilities of your product.
    Remember it's YES or NO. Most hpeople have no choice about the vaccines. But they have a choice with the purchase of a water filtration system.

  • Avatar of james james 2022-09-19 20:05:29

    just a correction on what you said,, we do have a choice about vaccines. don’t take them. don’t you allow anyone to put anything into your body without your consent.

  • Avatar of Lydia Lydia 2020-06-27 16:40:23

    I was advised by my GP to stop drinking distilled water and buy a Berkey water filtration system. I'm located in Florida and heavy metals are an issue. But since our water comes from the infamous aquaphor system and for taste they in scrupulously add toilet water, nd we are forced to utilize I am searching for a Berkey that will do the best job possible. Can you recommend what and where to purchase an appropriate Berkey water filtration system. Thanks.

  • Avatar of Dan Dan 2020-06-27 16:44:11

    Hi Lydia -

    Any of the systems that come standard with the black berkey filters will do the job for you. You just would want to pick the size that suits your needs best.

    Thanks
    Dan

  • Avatar of jodie jodie 2021-09-01 08:13:48

    thats terrible. Get out of florida, its going to be under water completely in a few years. search the infamous naval map of the future united states. move to higher ground. My suggestion st george Utah,still sunny and warm but above sea level

  • Avatar of Kay Kay 2020-01-06 02:08:06

    I agree with Joanna, this article is misleading. I had the impression from reading the article that estrogen, specifically mentioned, would be removed by the berkey filters. I have owned a berkey for over a year now but the more I read and learn about water filtration the more I realise the berkey does not remove as many harmful contaminants as initially thought. Also, it's noteworthy that estrogen enters the water supply not only from women's urine and feces, as mentioned here, but also significantly from agriculture, industry and landfill waste.

  • Avatar of Dan Dan 2020-01-06 15:13:00

    Hi Kay -

    To be clear, the berkey may remove estrogen and the probability is high given it removes similar compounds, however without testing we cannot state it removes it. The article is speaking to pharmaceuticals and hormones and then links to the testing for the removal of these. There are often lab limitations (at that point in time) that prevent the berkey to be tested for some specific chemicals or contaminants.

    As for other harmful contaminants, the berkey has arguably been tested and shown to remove more contaminants most all other water filters on the market.

    Thanks
    Dan

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  • Avatar of Joanna Joanna 2019-11-14 17:40:37

    Why not test for estradiol? Surely that is one of the most important contaminants - associated with male infertility etc......
    The fact that it has not been tested suggests you cannot filter it out! Your article that mentions it as a serious contaminant -
    and then carefully omits to say the Berkey has not been tested for this - is misleading, as it implies by omission that the Berkey is effective in this area.

  • Avatar of Dan Dan 2019-11-14 17:51:12

    Hi Joanna -

    The lab did not have the ability to test for estradoil the time of testing. Until new lab testing is performed with the ability to test for this contaminant, we cannot make a statement as to it's effectiveness in this regard.

    Thanks
    Dan

  • Avatar of Seema Seema 2019-09-27 02:37:04

    Will Berkey be coming up with a filter to remove estradiols from our water? Or is there anything I can add onto my Berkey filter that would help eliminate this?

  • Avatar of Dan Dan 2019-09-27 13:32:06

    Hi Seema -

    The berkey may already in fact remove estradiols, however it has just not been tested for that. We are unaware of it being on a future lab test.

    Thanks
    Dan

  • Avatar of Bill Bill 2021-03-01 18:31:59

    Perhaps you could perform your own test by introducing an estradiol into a sample of water...run it through...then have the filtered water tested??

  • Avatar of Dan DeBaun Dan DeBaun 2021-03-02 15:40:47

    Hi Bill -

    All tests are done by independent certified labs. Our company is not certified to perform proper water testing, nor would it be independent, which consumers prefer to remove conflicts of interest.

    Thanks
    Dan

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