From the Southtown Star:

City testing of Chicago's drinking water has turned up small amounts of a manmade drug and the insect repellent DEET, but officials said Friday that city water is safe to drink.

"Right now, there is no research out there that shows there's any harmful health effect from the components we found at very low levels," said John Spatz, commissioner of the city's water management department.

he city testing found a trace amount of the drug gemfibrozil, typically used to treat blood triglycerides, in treated and untreated water. Carbamazepine, often prescribed to control seizures, was found in untreated water, Spatz said.

To learn more about drugs in our water -- and what you can do to ensure these "small amounts" don't increase -- check out Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore's recent column on the topic.