Friends of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River has found growing evidence that contaminants found in the river are making their way past water treatment plants and into drinking glasses.

A study conducted in the spring of 2007 by the group found low levels of 59 manmade organic chemicals in the river, according to a River Health Report released by the group.

The chemicals reported on in the report include herbicides, insecticides, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and several other types of manmade compounds.

Of these, Atrazine was found to be one of the chemicals in the river, according to John Holmes, chair of the Friends of the North Fork science committee.

Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide in the corn industry that is currently banned in Europe, according to Shenandoah Riverkeeper Jeff Kelble.

While Atrazine is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, another chemical found in the river, Endosufan, is in the process of being banned by the EPA because of "unacceptable neurological and reproductive risks to farm workers and wildlife," according to an EPA news release.

It was a similar study conducted by the United States Geological Survey in 2003 that caused Holmes to "connect the dots" between

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