Drinking Water Contaminants

General Discussion --- Aluminum --- Bacteria and other Microbes --- Copper --- Cryptosporidia and Giardia --- Disinfection Byproducts --- Endocrine Disrupters --- MTBE (separate file) --- Fluoride --- Lead --- Magnesium & Calcium --- Nitrates --- Other Organic Compounds

	Contaminants - Aluminum
Alzheimer Research Forum	Welcome to the Alzheimer Research Forum. We are a non-profit foundation which has established this web site to serve the scientific and clinical research community. A number of articles on the possible link between aluminum and drinking water can be found by entering drinking water into the search engine. One example - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND ALUMINUM SPECIATION IN DRINKING WATER - To investigate the relation between aluminum (Al) forms in drinking water and Alzheimer's disease (AD), we carried out a case-control study in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Region (Quebec).
Aluminum in Your Water	Similar to zinc, aluminum is found in large concentrations in amyloid plaques; but don't throw away your aluminum pots and pans just yet. As one of the most abundant elements in our natural environment, almost everyone is continually exposed to tremendous amounts on a daily basis, far in excess of what you might get from aluminum soda cans. At least one study, though, has associated Alzheimer's with high levels (over 11 micrograms per liter) of aluminum in drinking water. For about a hundred dollars, the National Testing Laboratory of Cleveland (800-458-3330) will tell you how your drinking water stacks up, reporting not only aluminum content, but the content of 73 other entities as well.
EPA	Aluminum Toxicokinetics: Oral Absorption from Drinking Water and Brain Retention - The overall objective is to test the hypothesis that drinking water can significantly contribute to brain Al accumulation.
	Contaminants - Bacteria and other Microbes
AWWA Research Foundation	Report from the Expert Workshop on Emerging Waterborne Pathogens and Their Public Health Significance - The purpose of the Emerging Waterborne Pathogens Workshop was to define research needs to assess the potential impacts of emerging waterborne pathogens on the water industry. This report summarizes the results of this workshop, composed of individuals from academia, regulatory agencies, and the water industry, held in Breckenridge, Colorado, June 6-7, 1996. The objectives of the workshop were to identify emerging waterborne pathogens, prioritize them according to degree of concern, and develop research project recommendations to address critical research needs.
NWQD	Bacteria in Water Supplies? Bacteria are single-celled organisms commonly found in soil, on our bodies, on leaf material and in water. There may be over a million cells per gram of soil. Bacteria serve many functions in nature. They help break down matter (decomposition) and transform it through chemical reactions. "Pathogenic" bacteria carry diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera. If these bacteria are in drinking water, they can cause serious health problems. In one instance, in Missouri, four people died and 243 people became seriously ill from drinking water with a dangerous strain of Estherichia coli (Geldreich, et al., 1992).
Detroit Free Press	E. coli kills child, sickens 118 others - September 6, 1998. A contaminated underground water source is believed to be the origin of an E. coli outbreak at a county fair that killed a 3-year-old girl and sickened 118 others, state Health Department officials said Sunday. Tests on water in an aquifer supplying the Washington County fairgrounds turned up high levels of the E. coli bacteria.
U.S. Water News Online	First direct link found between bacteria in drinking water and stomach ulcers - July 1999 - U.S. Water News Online. MIDDLETOWN, Penn. -- Penn State Harrisburg researchers report they have found the first direct link between the presence of a bacterium in Pennsylvania drinking water and stomach ulcers. The research team headed by Katherine H. Baker, assistant professor of environmental microbiology, has tiedHelicobacter pylori in well water and clinical infection in persons drinking from that supply. Helicobacter pylori is anorganism linked to the cause of at least 75 percent of all stomach ulcers and two types of stomach cancers. The Penn State Harrisburg researchers made the association between water containing H. pylori and the infection through tests of private wells supplying drinking water to individual households. Interviews with residents who consumed the waterfound a statistically significant correlation between presence of the bacterium and cases of stomach ulcers. Ulcer-causing bacteria found in surface water -June 1998 - U.S. Water News Online . ATLANTA, Ga. --The bacterium blamed for most stomach ulcers may lurk undetected in surface water. Helicobacter pylori, the cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and certain types of stomach cancer has been found in river, creek, and lake water in central Pennsylvania. Although H. pylori infects half the world's population, evidence for a primary source of infection previously has been unknown.
U.S. Water News Online	Global decline in water quality a serious problem, say researchers July 1996 - WASHINGTON -- Easy access to clean, safe water can no longer be taken for granted, says a report by the American Academy of Microbiology. Water quality is threatened throughout the world, including the United States, according to the report. Burgeoning populations, aging sewer systems, environmental pollution, and growing resistance of microorganisms to water-treatment chemicals are among problems cited by the academy in its report, A Global Decline in Microbiological Safety of Water: A Call for Action, which was based on data from U.S. and international health agencies.
IFIC Foundation	Risks Misjudged in Cholera Epidemic - Health officials in Peru appear to have misjudged the relative risks of water chlorination on one hand and microbial contamination on the other, which may have helped begin a cholera epidemic that is now sweeping Peru and other countries in South and Central America.
Denver Post	E. coli linked to water - A note in the Western Empire section of the Denver Post (p. 4B), July 18, 1998 indicated that an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least 50 people in Alpine WY (population 470) was probably caused by a contaminated town water supply. State epidemiologist, Gayle, Miller, said that it is only the second outbreak in the nation that has been linked to municipal water. The probable cause was cattle, elk or deer waste Greely water warning - A note in the Western Empire section of the Denver Post (p. 4B), September 8, 1999 reported that residents in and around Greeley are being warned not to drink tap water for a few days after tests showed possible contamination with giardia, an intestinal parasite that can cause extreme digestive discomfort. {The Denver Post does not have on-line archives of articles}. You may be interested in reading the special report,Colorado's Water - Special Report from October, 1998
Water Center	Bacteria
OnHealth.com	Typhoid Fever - Introduction Symptoms \| Causes Treatments You can get typhoid fever if you eat or drink contaminated food or beverages. Contamination can occur when people handling food don't adequately wash their hands, or when sewage gets into drinking water. Because developing countries may not have sanitation systems that carefully contain waste and sewage, water used for drinking and washing may be contaminated.
OnHealth.com	About Traveler's Diarrhea Traveler's diarrhea (TD), or stomach and intestinal illness that occurs when traveling, is usually caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or beverages in areas where there is poor sanitation. Areas where there is the highest risk of poor sanitation include the developing countries of Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The risk of infection varies depending on the type of eating establishment the traveler visits - from fairly low risk in private homes to high risk in food from street vendors.
Center for Food Safety Applied Nutrition	The Bad Bug Book - This handbook provides basic facts regarding foodborne pathogenic microorganisms and natural toxins. It brings together in one place information from the Food Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control Prevention, the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service, and the National Institutes of Health. I included the link because, even though the focus of this handbook is on food pathogens, some of the same organisms can be found in water, E. coli, Cryptosporidium, etc.).
Health Risks from Enteric Microbes in Water and their Control by Disinfection	Professor Mark D. Sobsey is an eminent environmental microbiologist whose work for the past twenty years has focused on the occurrence, transport, fate, and effects of enteric viruses and other microbes of public health importance. From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ESE Notes
Science Daily	Scientists Seek Early Warning Of Drinking Water Threats - MADISON - A University of Wisconsin-Madison research team will be mixing up a batch of "pathogen cocktails" in the laboratory, with the goal of countering disease-causing threats to drinking water. Civil Engineering Professor Greg Harrington is leading a two-year project to determine how well water-treatment technologies remove Cryptosporidium and other microorganisms before they reach the kitchen tap. .... "If we review waterborne outbreaks of infectious disease in the United States, we find that the culprit was identified in only about half the cases," says Harrington. "There are numerous microorganisms, but detection methods are available for only a small fraction."
American Society for Microbiology	Search Journal Articles.I used to have direct links to the two articles below, but the only way I can reach them now is to enter several title words in the title into the surch engine. They are interesting articles, however. Protozoan Bacterivory and Escherichia coli Survival in Drinking Water Distribution Systems - The development of bacterial communities in drinking water distribution systems leads to a food chain which supports the growth of macroorganisms incompatible with water quality requirements and esthetics. Inactivation of Fecal Bacteria in Drinking Water by Solar Heating. We report simulations of the thermal effect of strong equatorial sunshine on water samples contaminated with high populations of fecal coliforms. (other solar disinfection links in the Emergency Water Treatment and Water Treatment lists)
	Contaminants - Copper
The Copper Page - A service of the worldwide copper and brass industries	Copper In Human Health Topics in this document: We can't live without it - How Much Copper In Your Body? - How Does It Work? - Do We Get Enough? - Can We Have Too Much? - What Are Copper Rich Foods? - Copper In Medicine - Copper Toxicity - Copper For Health - Further Reading and - Acknowledgments.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	Copper and your health - In 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established guidelines for controlling lead and copper levels in public water supplies. The information contained in this presentation will discuss the health effects of copper and ways to reduce exposure to copper in drinking water.
Yarra Valley Water	>Blue Water - Corrosion in customer's copper pipes can lead to elevated copper levels in water which may have an appearance of blue water when taps are first turned on. Blue water is a potential health hazard and must not be consumed by drinking or used in the preparation of food.
Yarra Valley Water - Blue Water	Corrosion in customer's copper pipes can lead to elevated copper levels in water which may have an appearance of blue water when taps are first turned on. Blue water is a potential health hazard and must not be consumed by drinking or used in the preparation of food.
NAP	Copper in Drinking Water (2000):Executive Summary 1 Introduction 2 Physiological Role of Copper 3 Health Effects of Copper Deficiencies 4 Disorders of Copper Homeostasis 5 Health Effects of Excess Copper 6 Risk Characterization
Water Center	Copper in Drinking Water Copper rarely occurs naturally in water. Most copper contamination in drinking water happens in the water delivery system, as a result of corrosion of the copper pipes or fittings. Copper piping and fittings are widely used in household plumbing.
	Contaminants - Cryptosporidia and Giardia
Cryptosporidium/Coccidial	Research Division of Biology Kansas State University: Detailed discussion of the biology of cryptosporidium and links to related sites.
Atlas Of Medical Parasitology	Information on cryptosporidia, giardia, and a host of other parasites from The Carlo Denegri Foundation and the Infectious Diseases Clinic, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, Italy. cryptosporidia and other protozoal parasites
WQIC	Cryptosporidium resources.
CDC	Cryptosporidium fact sheet. Cryptosporidium information
Cells Alive	Micrographs of cryptosporidia and giardia along with many other interesting micro-images. {The is a fascinating site!}
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health	Cryptosporidium - Just as Cryptosporidium in drinking water is a relatively new problem, so this is a new application of the Chartered Institute's website. Whereas in the past the website as been used principally to present information about our organisation and its activities, this is our first attempt to put it to use as an on-line source of information on a professional topic. Whether you are faced with having to control an outbreak yourself or your interest in Cryptosporidium is more academic, we hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.
Cryptosporidium Capsule Newsletter	Cryptosporidium Capsule is a monthly publication by FS Publishing, and it is the first and only newsletter solely devoted to Cryptosporidium, a waterborn pathogen. Provides a cumulative total of cryptosporidosis cases for the year in the United States and United Kingdom.
Foundation for Water Research	Papers on Cryptosporidium and Giardia from the Foundation for Water Research
The Sydney Morning Herald	There are over a month of stories detailing the contamination of Sydney Australia's water supply by Cryptosporidium archived on The Sydney Morning Herald Water Crisis page. Fortunately, despite a two day delay in informing the population, there had apparently been no reported cases of death or illness linked to the contamination by September 7.
CNN	Tainted water scare envelopes Sydney - SYDNEY, Australia (CNN, - July 31, 1998) - Panicked residents in Australia's largest city stocked up on bottled water Friday amid fears that a treatment plant was pumping parasite-polluted water into homes, businesses and hospitals. Tests earlier in the week in the city of 3.7 million people turned up signs of contamination in a small area of downtown. But emergency warnings were expanded to include suburban areas after the outbreak was found to be much more widespread than originally thought.
CNN	Milwaukee learned its water lesson, but many other cities haven't - MILWAUKEE (CNN, September 2, 1996) - Until 1993, most Americans took the cleanliness of public drinking water for granted. The United States has a reputation for high standards in its water systems; it wasn't until a parasite slipped through the cracks in Milwaukee and killed more than 100 people that water systems managers started to take a closer look at how they monitored their product. Even so, today, the Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that more than 50 million Americans are still drinking from substandard water systems. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention find that as many as half the water utilities in the country sometimes fail to remove the same microbe that caused half the people in Milwaukee to get sick three years ago.
Water Center	Cryptospori dia
Sierra Club	The Year That Made Milwaukee Infamous
	Disinfection Byproducts
NAP	Drinking Water and Health, Volume 7: Disinfectants and Disinfectant By-Products (1987). - {You may want to start with the Conclusion and Recommendations section on page 202}
Center for the Study of Environmental Endocrine Effects	This site provides the latest and most significant information on scientific research and governmental policy developments on issues concerning adverse (or beneficial) effects that various environmental agents, both synthetic and natural, may have on the endocrine functions of humans, wildlife, and ecology. {site inactive 8/7/98}
Thrive	Clean-water acts Prevention Aug 1994 Drinking filtered water may remove compounds that have been associated with bladder cancer. While smoking is the primary risk factor in bladder cancer, chlorinated drinking water may be another culprit. Researchers have seen twice the risk of cancer in people who drank an average of two and one half glasses of chlorinated water daily for more than thirty years compared to those who drank water disinfected by other processes. Chlorine reacts with organic compounds in water to make trihalomethanes that have been found to be carcinogenic in animals.
CNN	Study: Water-treatment byproduct linked to cancer in rats - ATLANTA (CNN, June 17, 1997) -- A byproduct of chlorination in drinking water has been linked to cancer in rats, leading the government to investigate adverse effects of water disinfectants. A chemical byproduct called MX develops from organic compounds in the chlorinated drinking water, and Finnish researchers found that rats exposed to high levels of MX got several types of cancer.
NAP	Drinking Water and Health, Volume 2: (chapters, 1-The disinfection of drinking water; 2-The chemistry of disinfection in water; 3- An evaluation of activated carbon for drinking water) This book is no longer on-line, but it can be ordered.
OnHealth.com	Filtering the Data on Water Safety - Chlorination by-products have been scrutinized for their cancer-causing potential since the 1970s. A number of studies have hinted at a higher risk of bladder and colorectal cancer from the chemicals.
Formation and Control of Disinfection By-Products	The primary objective of this project, sponsored by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AWWARF) is to evaluate the impact of ozonation on the formation of halogenated and non-halogenated disinfection by-products (DBPs) resulting from subsequent chlorination and chloramination with and without coagulation. From the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ESE Notes
Thrive	Troubled watersMar, 1996 Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal there were more than 17,000 cases of waterborne illnesses during the last two-year reporting period. However, since many of the symptoms are often confused with other sicknesses, some feel as many as 25 outbreaks go unreported for every one that is. Many Americans are exposed to potentially harmful microbes, pesticides, lead, or radioactive radon whenever they drink from the tap or take a shower. One reason for these increasing problems is that 25 percent of our water-treatment plants have trouble complying with federal drinking water standards because they are old, out-dated, or not properly equipped to process the large amounts of raw sewage and agricultural pollutants that are discharged into drinking water sources.
	Contaminants - Endocrine Disrupters
Environmental Estrogens and Other Hormones (EEOH).	Environmental Estrogens (EE) are a wide variety of natural compounds and synthetic chemicals that may mimic natural estrogen hormones. They have been linked to growth, reproductive and other health problems in wildlife and laboratory animals and may affect human health. Select main menu items for overviews, more details, and special features.
Endocrine/Estrogen Letter	Endocrine/Estrogen Letter is the most comprehensive source of unbiased, accurate information about the scientific, regulatory and political issues associated with endocrine disrupters. E/E Letter is the only publication devoted exclusively to reporting about endocrine disrupters. Its staff are in touch with leading scientists and government officials in the US, Europe and Asia, representatives of environmental groups, as well as companies and trade associations that are actively involved with endocrine disrupter issues. Site contains an extensive list of related links.
Hormone Disrupting Chemicals Home Page	These pages provide an introduction to the effects of hormone disrupting chemicals on man and the environment. Other terms used to describe these chemicals include xenoestrogens, oestrogenic (estrogenic), hormone mimicking and endocrine disrupting chemicals. The chemicals involved include pesticides such as DDT, lindane and atrazine, the food packaging chemicals, phthalates and bisphenol A, alkylphenol ethoxylate detergents and the chemical industry by-products, dioxins. hese pages are aimed at anyone interested in the subject, and include references to other research and reviews for those interested in investigating the field further. The pages focus particularly on those chemicals which are not organochlorines, but some information is also provided on organochlorines. The material in these pages has been written by Dr Michael Warhurst, an Environmental Chemist who works for Friends of the Earth in London, UK.
Endocrine Disrupters - All the better to confuse you with	Site discusses and illustrates (on page 8) the mechanisms of endocrine disrupter action. The Why Files, funded by the National Science Foundation is an interesting site exploring a wide variety of scientific topics.
WWF Canada's Web Guide to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals	World Wildlife Fund is dedicated to saving life on Earth, through the conservation of nature and ecological processes. Introduction to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - The world's biological diversity cannot be conserved in an environment filled with harmful chemicals. Since the advent of the chemical industry in the 1940s, thousands of chemicals have been produced and released into the air, water and food. Chemicals now contaminate even the remotest parts of the globe and the newly born. Everyone reading this has over 100 chemicals in his or her body that were not in anyone's body 50 years ago.
NRDC	Endocrine Disruptors,What Should We Do Now?
PSR - Generations at Risk	This report brings together for the first time information about the reproductive health effects of selected chemical exposures with California chemical use and emissions data.
PSR	Physicians Alert Parents to Potential Dangers of Clear Plastic Baby Bottles By Dr. Robert K. Musil, executive director or Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)....A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that babies who drink from clear plastic baby bottles could be at greater health risk than babies who do not. When a clear plastic polycarbonate container is heated, the chemical bisphenol-A is released.Bisphenol-A acts like estrogen in the body and has the potential to disrupt the hormonal development of children....
Hoosier Environmental Council	Hoosier Environmental Council works to restore and protect Indiana's natural environment upon which all life depends. Pesticides, Toxins & Endocrine Disrupters
Science Daily	Endocrine Disrupters: Dioxin Causes Reproductive System Defects - A toxic chemical that lurks in the environment for years causes a vaginal defect in unborn rats. The abnormality is a web of tissue that partially obstructs the vaginal opening and may impair the rats' ability to reproduce.
EPA	Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Web Site Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Web Site - This web site provides information about the endocrine system and why certain chemicals can affect it, how the EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program was developed, and the current status of EPA's implementation activities. In recent years, some scientists have proposed that chemicals might be disrupting the endocrine system (glands and hormones) of humans and wildlife. The endocrine system -- also referred to as the hormone system -- is made up of glands located throughout the body, hormones which are synthesized and secreted by the glands into the bloodstream, and receptors in the various target organs and tissues which recognize and respond to the hormones. The function of the system is to regulate a wide range of biological processes, including control of blood sugar, growth and function of reproductive systems, regulation of metabolism, brain and nervous system development, and development of an organism from conception through adulthood and old age. A variety of chemicals are known to disrupt the endocrine systems of animals in laboratory studies, and compelling evidence has accumulated that endocrine systems of certain fish and wildlife have been affected by chemical contaminants, resulting in developmental abnormalities and reproductive impairment. However, the relationship of human diseases of the endocrine system and exposure to environmental contaminants is poorly understood and scientifically controversial.
EPA	Endocrine Disrupters Research Initiative - These pages contain information related to the efforts of the Endocrine Disrupter Working Group of the National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) to provide coordination across the federal government related to examining the hypothesis that there are chemicals present in the environment of humans and wildlife that, by virtue of their ability to interact with endocrine system, are causing a variety of adverse health effects.
WQWM	Water conservation in the home 1, 2, 3- Three discussions about water conservation.
PSR	Endocrine Disruptors: The State of the Science and Endocrine Disruptors - Links to Other Sites
Water Conditioning & Purification Magazine	Endocrine Disruptors: A New Category of Waterborne Risk Although much of the public has never heard of endocrine disruptors, the federal government has been aware of their potential hazards in water for the past several years. Congress included specific language on endocrine disruption in the Food Quality Protection Act and amended Safe Drinking Water Act in 1996. The former mandated that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) develop an endocrine disruptor screening program, whereas the latter authorizes USEPA to screen endocrine disruptors found in drinking water sources.
Miscellaneous sites containing information about Endocrine Disrupters	Environmental Endocrine disruptors Atrazine, a cancer causing toxic herbicide, has been banned in seven European countries, including Germany, Austria, Italy, and the Netherlands. But in the United States it is the most widely used pesticide, with 75 million pounds used primarily on corn crops annually. UTNE Reader (Enter Raging Hormones into the search box) - Are industrial pollutants blurring the genetic boundaries between male and female? Endocrine Disrupters: It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature Pesticides, Toxins & Endocrine Disrupters About Endocrine Disrupters
Junk Science Home Page	Not everyone is a "believer". Site purports to expose bad science I have listed several articles specifically related to endocrine disrupters Article 1 - In June 1996, Tulane University researchers reported alarming results from so-called "endocrine disrupters" - manmade chemicals, like pesticides, PCBs and plastics, that allegedly disrupt hormonal systems and cause everything from cancer to infertility to attention-deficit disorder. Article 2 - Our Stolen Future is a preposterous tall tale about how manmade chemicals are disrupting normal hormonal processes to cause everything from breast and prostate cancer to declining sperm counts to attention deficit disorder to birds. Article 3 - Are synthetic chemicals disrupting human reproduction and development? Some environmentalists have suggested that certain man-made chemicals in the human diet might be causing lower male sperm counts. These chemicals, called endocrine disrupters, mimic or affect hormones involved in reproduction, such as estrogen.
Our Stolen Future	A book by Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and John Peterson Myers Our Stolen Future (ISBN 0-525-93982-2) was first published in March 1996 by Dutton, Penguin Books USA. It was released in paper by Plume/Penguin, March 1997, and is also available in German (Die bedrohte Zukunft, published by Droemer Knaur), Korean (as of 28 March 1997) and Spanish (4 April 1997). It will soon be available in Dutch, Japanese and Portuguese. (Regardless of your views about the seriousness of this problem of of the scientific methods described in this book, this IS the book that brought the group of chemicals known as Endocrine Disropters to the public consciousness.)
	Contaminants - Fluoride
Public Health Service Report on Fluoride Benefits	This report, "Public Health Service Report on Fluoride Benefits and Risks" is a summary of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of Review of Fluoride Benefits and Risks: Report of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Fluoride of the Committee to Coordinate Environmental Health and Related Programs, published in February 1991. The full report was prepared by an ad hoc subcommittee of the United States Public Health Service's Committee to Coordinate Environmental Health and Related Programs (CCEHRP) at the request of the Assistant Secretary for Health. The full report can be obtained from the Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.
ADA	Position of The American Dietetic Association: The impact of fluoride on dental health
Water Fluoridation	A list of links sites related to Fluoride. It is a part of the Dentistry section of About.Com - Expert Guides to Help You Find/Learn/Share
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Health Unit	Fluoride (Fluoride is a common element in the earth's crust, and is present in groundwater naturally from trace concentrations to 5 mg/l.)
San Diego Union-Tribune	To Access the archives at this site, you must register - a free process. Once you have done that, go to the archive section and enter So you think you know H2O into the search box to access the article described below (and related articles). Water World \| So you think you know H2O? Tap into these elemental facts 1. Water is not water. Water -- simple, pure, unsullied water -- is exactly two parts hydrogen molecules and one part oxygen molecules. You know, "H-two-oh." But the slippery substance we know as "water" is hardly ever simple or pure. "When you really get into it, water isn't water," says Dr. Bruce Fowler, director of the toxicology program at the University of Maryland. The clear liquid you drink may contain any number of substances, some added by nature, some added by man, some tasty, some dangerous. When you pour yourself a glass of water, either from the tap or a store-bought bottle, you might need an ingredient label. Another very interesting article pulled up by the above search is: H2O \| Most common liquid remains a mystery.
San Diego Union-Tribune	To Access the archives at this site, you must register - a free process. Once you have done that, go to the archive section and enter drinking water fluoride debate into the search box to access the article described below (and related articles). The fluoride debate \| Treating drinking water: Does it protect or harm? - 01-Sep-1999 - In April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed water fluoridation as one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the century. Right up there with vaccination, sanitation and seat belts. The previous month, the city councils of Escondido and La Mesa, as well as the Helix water district, banned fluoride from their water, declaring it a health hazard. And the politicians running the city of San Diego - the largest remaining U.S. city without fluoridated water -- are pointedly avoiding the controversy. It is true that fluoride has been used as a rat poison and pesticide. If you drink a pure glass of the stuff, you die. It is also true that fluoridated water contains just one drop of fluoride for every million drops of water and has been consumed by millions of people for more than 50 years as a cheap way to reduce tooth decay.
Thrive	Fluoride in water supply does not increase hip fractures NEW YORK, Jan 2, 20001 (Reuters Health) -- Despite concerns that fluoride consumption might weaken bones and increase the risk of fractures, a study from Britain indicates that drinking fluoridated water does not increase the rate of hip fractures.
drkoop.com	Our Web site is based on the vision of Dr. C. Everett Koop, the former U.S. Surgeon General, who believes that people should be empowered to better manage their personal health with comprehensive, trusted information. drkoop.com strives to be the most trusted and complete source of consumer healthcare information and services on the Internet. Appropriate Uses of Fluoride - Dr. Monica Fisher - American Council on Science and Health - Water fluoridation continues to be debated in some circles. However, the arguments against water fluoridation are not supported by scientific evidence. This is an important public health issue worthy of additional emphasis.
Fluoride: Protected Pollutant or Panacea	Fluoridation proponents often assert that there is no legitimate scientific controversy over the benefits or safety of this measure. These web pages clearly show controversy existed from the outset and continues to this day. Dental fluorosis is now pandemic in fluoridated areas. Fluoride ingestion in our children is clearly out of control given the sky-rocketing rise in fluorosis rates in fluoridated communities (click on individual photos for better-resolution). Canada has some of the highest rates in the world. The health problems caused by fluoride in some other countries is well-documented and staggering. There are about twenty nations with health problems due to fluoride ingestion.
NAP	Health effects of Ingested Fluoride
	Contaminants - General Discussion
WaterNet	Third World's Water Needs Help
WaterNet	Third World's Water Needs Help
Houston Chronicles	Tapwater at Risk - A second electronic copy of the three-part series published in 1996 that explores the safety of the nation's tap water and explains the dangers threatening our water and what communities can do to protect it.
Drinking Water and Health	Colorado State University, Cooperative Extension - A discussion of important water contaminants and solutions.
NRDC	H 2 + O + what else?
City of Portland Bureau of Water Works	Cross Connection (Backflow) Prevention Program - Fire sprinklers and lawn irrigation lines sometimes pose risks to consumers. Improperly protected plumbing systems may cause or allow waste water to flow in the reverse direction. This "backflow" may contaminate potable water and cause serious illness. Hospitals, mortuaries, chemical plants, and other commercial establishments which create hazardous wastes may also be a source for contaminating potable water.
EWG	The *In the Drink* section also has important information on water contaminants.
Thrive	US tap water safety often beats bottled water - NEW YORK, Mar 14,2000 (Reuters Health) -- Bottled water from around the country and around the world is available for sale in the US. But the best bargain may already be in your kitchen -- tap water has less bacteria and more fluoride than much of the 4 billion gallons of bottled water currently sold annually in the United States, according to researchers.
Thrive	Lead alert Parents Mar 1997 - There are an estimated 1.7 million children age 5 and under in the United States, across all socio-economic groups, who have unsafe levels of lead in their bodies. Even minute amounts of the metal are extremely toxic to humans, and children are particularly vulnerable. Lead poisoning can cause retardation, behavioral problems, and death. Lead paint or water pipes in older homes is a common source of lead contamination, as is soil near lead-painted homes or near highways…….
EPA - Office of Ground Drinking Water	EPA List of regulated drinking water contaminants, MCLs, health effects, and sources of drinking water contamination
Sierra Club	Movie Calls Attention to Water Pollution
EPA - Office of Science and Technology	EPA Drinking Water Regulations and Health Advisories for Inorganic elements and compounds. - Table of inorganic compounds for which the EPA has
Water Center	Drinking Water: Sulfates and Hydrogen Sulfide Two forms of sulfur are commonly found in drinking water supplies: sulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Both forms are nuisances that usually do not pose a health risk at the concentrations found in domestic water supplies.
CNN	- (CNN, July 16, 1999) -- Most Americans take clean drinking water for granted. But, for close to 7 million people in the United States, what comes out of the tap isn't necessarily clean enough to drink without worrying about getting sick, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is particularly true in rural areas, and to help improve some of these problems, the Clinton administration July 12 announced nearly $210 million in loans and grants for safe drinking water projects in 40 states.
NBC News	Raising baby in an era of toxins Your Environment - and what you can do about it. ….The old worries used to be keeping babies safe from chemicals believed to cause cancer. Now researchers are intensifying their search for some of the subtler health effects of a wide variety of synthetic chemicals believed to produce neurotoxicity, immune-system disorders and reproductive and other developmental injuries.
CNN	World panel set to address water issues - (August 20,1998) -- Water issues are expected to take center stage in the next century as the world population rises and the demand for water increases. To deal with these issues, a World Commission on Water for the 21st Century has been established. ........ "At the threshold of a new century, few challenges loom as large as the declining availability of fresh water to meet the rising demands of an expanding human family while recognizing the intimate link of that precious resource to the global ecosystems on which human survival depends," Abu-Zeid said. One billion people lack access to safe drinking water in the developing world and up to 10 million people die annually due to diseases caused by dirty water, according to the United Nations.
CNN	Urban sprawl threatens Istanbul drinking water - ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN, July 26, 1997) - -- Istanbul is a city virtually surrounded by water, but none that is good enough for drinking. What to the uninitiated visitor in Istanbul may look like a gas station is in fact a water station, where people fill up containers for their homes. Many people living in the city do not want to drink tap water because they say it's muddy and makes them sick.
Rethinking Chlorinated Tap Water	By Dr. Zoltan P. Rona Md MSc, a practicing Toronto physician and author of the new book Return to the Joy of Health (Alive Books, 1-800-661-0303) Most people never give it a thought. After all, our elected public officials keep assuring us that chlorinated city tap water is completely safe for human consumption. Numerous scientific studies, however, report that chlorinated tap water is a skin irritant and can be associated with rashes like eczema. Chlorinated water can destroy polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E in the body while generating toxins capable of free radical damage (oxidation).
NAP	Identifying Future Drinking Water Contaminants (1999) Setting Priorities for Drinking Water Contaminants (1999)
NAP	Asbestiform Fibers Nonoccupational Health Risks (1984)
Backflow	The water purveyors deliver the product through a series of pipes (transmission mains and distribution mains) to the customers' water meters. Once the product (clean water) is delivered through the water meters to the customers, the water purveyor does not want this same water to return back through the meters and out into the public water supply. Most customers manage to contaminate the water they use and normally this contaminated fluid passes to the waste collection system. Unfortunately the water sometimes reverses direction back through the water meter. This reversal of direction is called BACKFLOW. The most common type of backflow is backsiphonage.
NAP	Risk Assessment of Radon in Drinking Water (1999) Health Effects of Exposure to Radon: Time for Reassessment? (1994)
NAP	Setting Priorities for Drinking Water Contaminants(1998) - The provision of safe drinking water has been an important factor in the improvement of the health status of U.S. communities since the turn of the last century. Nonetheless, outbreaks of waterborne disease and incidences of chemical contamination of drinking water continue to occur. Setting Priorities for Drinking Water Contaminants recommends a new process for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use in deciding which potential drinking water contaminants should be regulated in public water supplies to provide the greatest protection against waterborne illnesses.
Thrive	Is your water safe to drink?Prevention Feb, 1999 - Drinking water is derived from three sources: a public utility subject to state and federal regulation; a private source such as a well; and last, bottled water. Some 85% of American households receive water from a municipal source. Public water is considered safe for consumption and tests extremely well in spite of some well-publicized reports of contaminants in public wells. Contaminants range from radium and gasoline additives to bacteria, lead and pesticides. Organic contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, and cryptosporidium enter the water cycle when human and animal feces is released into lakes and streams via sewage plant overflows and city and farm runoffs.
OnHealth.com	Environmental Poisoning Introduction Symptoms \| Causes Treatments \| Recommended The human body is remarkable for its ability to handle the onslaughts of what can at times be a hostile environment. It is capable of neutralizing or expelling many potentially harmful agents, whether they are organic microbes or industrial chemicals or minerals. However, if your body absorbs low levels of some chemicals or minerals over a period of months or even years, you may develop chronic environmental poisoning. (Another form of environmental poisoning is acute environmental poisoning, which results from exposure to or ingestion of dangerous amounts of a toxic substance.) Symptoms of chronic environmental poisoning are often vague and can vary in severity; the condition is thus sometimes mistaken for another ailment or remains undetected altogether.
Scientific American	Parasites or Pollution? - Biologists figure out what accounts for certain side-show frogs
EPA - Office of Ground Drinking Water	Sulfates in drinking water
Thrive	Dangers in your water. Natural Health, Jul/Aug, 1998 - More than 45 million Americans are supplied with water unfit for drinking based on the water standards of the Environmental Protection Agency. There are more than 1 million cases of water-related illness each year of which 1,000 are fatal. Water for drinking should be tested by a professional testing laboratory. The most common contaminants in water systems are chlorine byproducts, lead, microbial organisms, nitrates, and pesticides. The contamination process, the health effects of these contaminants, and the risk factors in water contamination for each of the pollutants is discussed. Filters can be used to remove these contaminants from the water system. The available filters on the market are carafe filters, faucet filters, and reverse osmosis systems. Reverse osmosis systems remove most of the contaminants in drinking water.
	Contaminants - Lead
U.S. Water News Online	Studies find exposure to lead more hazardous than thought June 1996 - WASHINGTON -- According to two studies recently published by The Journal of the American Medical Association, lead may be even more dangerous than previously thought, causing high blood pressure and kidney impairment at unexpectedly low levels. The authors of these studies, both made on adult men, suggest current safety standards for lead exposure in both adults and children may need to be further tightened.
Water Center	Lead
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality	Lead in Drinking Water
WQWM	Lead in Drinking Water- Exposure to low levels of lead over an extended period of time can have severe effects
Thrive	Voluntary standard for lead from water faucets is called too lax. New York Times 1994, Nov 3. A national plumbing supply industry group has published a voluntary standard on how much lead should be allowed to leach into water from faucets, ice makers and other fixtures. Health experts say the industry's seal of approval, which will appear on package labels in about a year, is still too lax.
AWWA	Minimizing Public Exposure to Lead in Drinking Water - A White Paper from the American Water Works Association
NBC News	Lead in pregnancy linked to asthma July 29 - Preliminary findings of a new study suggest another possible hazard of lead: Women who are exposed to it during pregnancy may have babies that are predisposed to asthma and possibly even cancer. EXPERTS SAY the results, though observed only in animals, shed light on why certain segments of the U.S. population share high levels of asthma and childhood lead poisoning and could be an important clue for researchers working to prevent asthma.In the study, scientists at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., gave lead-tainted drinking water to pregnant rats in proportions comparable to the level of lead exposure experienced by a woman living in an older building that has lead-based paint on the walls and lead-based solder in the water lines. They found that the lead had no impact on the mother rat, but its effects on her offspring were insidious. "The fetal exposure to lead produced serious long-term immune-system defects as the young rats matured," said Dr. Rodney R. Dietert, who headed the study team, "defects that could increase the offsprings' risk for allergic diseases and lower their immunity to tumors." The same populations that have the greatest exposure to lead also have the highest rates of asthma. For example, the lead-exposed young rats had high levels of IgE antibodies. These antibodies, when exposed to an asthma irritant such as ragweed pollen, bind the pollen to tissue cells in the lungs. These cells then generate histamines, chemicals that trigger the inflammation that obstructs the passage of air. The more IgE antibodies, the greater the risk of an asthma attack. The study, published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, found a number of such harmful alterations to the immune systems of the lead-exposed rats.
NAP	Measuring Lead Exposure in Infants, Children, and Other Sensitive Populations (1993)
	Contaminants - Magnesium and Calcium
Magnesium Deficiency, Heart Attack - Drinking Water	This site provides information about the magnesium-deficiency catastrophe and its relationship to the beverage industry. Magnesium deficiency appears to be causing 215,000 fatal heart attacks in the U.S. each year, and as many as 20,000,000 fatal heart attacks world-wide. Magnesium deficiency is implicated in many other diseases. Twenty years ago, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences estimated that the U.S. cardiovascular death rate might be reduced by 150,000 deaths per annum by drinking water rich in magnesium and calcium. {I have also seen articles that indicate drinking water is not an important source of dietary magnesium, but it is an interesting debate, none-the-less}
Selected works of Dr. Mildred Seelig	Famous magnesium researcher and reviewer. This is the Home Page of Dr. Mildred Seelig, donated as a public service by Paul and Janet Mason. Dr. Seelig's forty years of research have established her as one of the world's foremost magnesium researchers and reviewers. You can jump to any of her articles below. For an overview of magnesium, we suggest you start with Dr. Seelig's 1994 article, "Consequences of Magnesium Deficiency..."
Water Center	Drinking Water: Hard Water Water described as "hard" is high in dissolved minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium. Hard water is not a health risk, but a nuisance because of mineral buildup on fixtures and poor soap and/or detergent performance. Water is a good solvent and picks up impurities easily. Pure water -- , colorless, and odorless -- is often called the universal solvent. When water is combined with carbon dioxide to form very weak carbonic acid, an even better solvent results. As water moves through soil and rock, it dissolves very small amounts of minerals and holds them in solution. Calcium and magnesium dissolved in water are the two most common minerals that make water "hard." The degree of hardness becomes greater as the calcium and magnesium content increases.
	Contaminants - Nitrates
U.S. Water News Online	Nitrate contamination of rural water supplies poses serious health risk April 1996 - OMAHA, Neb. -- According to several environmental organizations, Nebraskans and other mid-westerners living in rural areas, particularly those with infant children, face serious health risks from the level of nitrates in their drinking water.
NWQD	Nitrates in Your Drinking Water
Water Center	Drinking Water: Nitrate and Methemoglobinemia ("Blue Baby" Syndrome) Methemoglobinemia is a blood disorder caused when nitrite interacts with the hemoglobin in red blood cells. Unlike hemoglobin, the methemoglobin formed in this interaction cannot carry sufficient oxygen to the body's cells and tissues. Although methemoglobinemia is rare among adults, cases have been reported among infants, where nitrate-contaminated well water was used to prepare formula and other baby food
Maryland's Natural Resources The Maryland Department of Natural Resources Home Page / Weekly Newsletter	Excess nitrogen, in surface and groundwater systems used for drinking water, is dangerous to the health of certain groups of people and animals. For example, infants less than six months old are particularly susceptible to harm because their stomachs are not acidic enough to prevent certain growth of certain bacteria which convert nitrate to nitrite. High levels of nitrites can oxidize hemoglobin to form methanoglobin which is unable to carry oxygen. Brain damage or death by suffocation can result from this condition known as methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome. (The search engine on the home page will pull up other topics of interest)
NAP	Nitrate and Nitrite in Drinking Water (1995)
	Contaminants - Organic Compounds
EWG	Tap Water Blues: Herbicides in Drinking Water - Authored by Richard Wiles, Brian Cohen, Chris Campbell, Susan Elderkin. Produced in 1994 by The Environmental Working Group and Physicians for Social Responsibility. This 276 page volume contains 84 tables, 68 figures, and a comprehensive up-to-date bibliography. It is a rich authoritative resource for practitioners, public health officials, activists, and concerned citizens. The following information is excerpted from the executive summary. Every spring, farmers across the Corn Belt apply 150 million pounds of five herbicides - atrazine, cyanazine, simazine, alachlor, and metolachlor - to their corn and soybean fields. Every spring, rains wash a substantial portion of those chemicals into the drinking water of 11.7 million people in the Midwest and . Drinking water contamination with these herbicides is a serious public health issue; the manufacturers own laboratory data show that these five herbicides cause nine different kinds of cancer, various birth defects, and heritable genetic mutations. None are removed by the conventional drinking water treatment technologies that are used by more than 90 percent of all water utilities in the U.S. An analysis of over 20,000 tests for these five herbicides in finished tap water and drinking water sources shows: 14.1 million people routinely drink water contaminated with these herbicides. 11.7 million of these people live in the heart of the Corn Belt and Louisiana, including every major Midwestern city south of Chicago. 65,000 infants drink these herbicides from birth via infant formula. An additional 2.4 million people are exposed to these herbicides via drinking water in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The original report has been removed from the web, but there is a follow-up article available - Environmental Working Group Response to "A Review of the Science, Methods of Risk Communication and Policy Recommendations in Tap Water Blues" by David B. Baker, R. Peter Richards, and Kenneth Baker.
Environmental News Network (ENN)	USGS tallies the extras in our water - Friday, July 2, 1999 - Streams that pass through agricultural and urban areas almost always contain complex mixtures of nutrients and pesticides, but aquatic species are more at risk than humans, according to a report released June 28 by the U.S. Geological Survey.. The report, The Quality of Our Nation's Waters - Nutrients and Pesticides, is available on the World Wide Web.
PSR	Resolution on MMT in the U.S. Gasoline Supply Be it therefore resolved that Physicians for Social Responsibility deplores the use of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese carbonyl (MMT) in the U.S. gasoline supply without clear evidence of safety; and urges the U.S. Congress and applicable state agencies to ban the addition of MMT into gasoline until its safety is clearly documented;
U.S. Water News Online	Santa Monica water supply threatened by MTBE July 1996 - SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Santa Monica is the first city in California to be forced to shut down a large part of its drinking-water supply because of contamination by the gasoline additive MTBE - and may be the first large city in the nation to face such a problem. Excessive amounts of MTBE in water supplies have forced this city of about 100,000 - adjacent to Los Angeles and famed for its beaches - to close three of the five wells in a field that supplies 40 percent of its drinking water.
CNN	Study focuses on weed-killer in water - WASHINGTON (CNN, August 17, 1995) -- You may be tossing back weed-killer with your drinking water, especially if you live in the Midwest. According to a new report, pesticides contaminate tap water supplies in dozens of American cities during the growing season, when levels frequently can exceed federal standards. The survey, conducted by the Environmental Working Group, focused mainly on the Midwest from May to August, when herbicide use is highest. And to the dismay of Corn Belt residents, it showed drinking water laced with a variety of chemicals -- some that have been shown to cause birth defects, reproductive disorders, and even cancer in lab animals.
CNN	MTBE dangers were known, report claims - March 23, 1999 - The oil industry knew about MTBE threats to drinking water before the controversial gasoline additive was introduced in California, according to an article in the March 16 edition of the Sacramento Bee.
CNN	MTBE dangers were known, report claims - March 23, 1999 - The oil industry knew about MTBE threats to drinking water before the controversial gasoline additive was introduced in California, according to an article in the March 16 edition of the Sacramento Bee.
CNN	Insecticide found in Florida drinking water supply - ATLANTA (CNN, July 15, 1997) - TAMPA, Florida - Recent water tests indicate that tiny amounts of the insecticide malathion, used by medfly fighters, have made their way into Tampa's drinking water supply.
NAP	Toxicological and Performance Aspects of Oxygenated Motor Vehicle Fuels (1996):Executive Summary 1 INTRODUCTION 2 AIR QUALITY, FUEL ECONOMY 3 WATER QUALITY 4 HUMAN EXPOSURE 5 POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS OF OXYGENATES 6 POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS OF OTHER POLLUTANTS 7 RISK ASSESSMENT
Water Center	Drinking Water: Iron and Manganese Iron and manganese are non-hazardous elements that can be a nuisance in a water supply. Iron and manganese are chemically similar and cause similar problems. Iron is the most frequent of the two contaminants in water supplies; manganese is typically found in iron-bearing water.
Water Center	Drinking Water: Man-made Chemicals
Science Daily	42 Million Americans Use Groundwater Vulnerable To Contamination By Volatile Organic Compounds: Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey estimate that 42 million Americans use groundwater vulnerable to low-level contamination by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The estimate is based on the first nationwide assessment of untreated groundwater aquifers, which found VOC levels in excess of federal drinking water criteria in about 6 percent of urban wells and 1.5 percent of rural wells. The amount of human exposure to the VOCs is uncertain, according to the researchers.
Science Daily	MTBE Threatens Thousands Of Public Drinking Wells: As many as 9,000 community water wells in 31 states may be affected by contamination from the gasoline additive methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) due to their proximity to leaking underground storage tanks, according to a new study. First added to gasoline to enhance octane and later in much larger amounts to reduce air pollution, MTBE has turned up in groundwater throughout the nation. Its foul smell and taste are apparent at very low concentrations (parts per billion).
CNN	Wisconsin fights modern farming's water-contaminating ways - ARENA, Wisconsin (CNN, October 7, 1996) - Farmers have been using weed killers and chemical fertilizers for years to help boost their crop production, but often those chemicals trickle into your drinking water. Wisconsin is taking steps to protect its water sources before it is too late.
ABC News	Gas Additive a Bad Trade-Off Deemed an Environmental Threat, MTBE makes gasoline burn cleaner and produce less smog, but has been found to contaminating drinking water. W A S H I N G T O N, July 27 - After receiving a report today that the smog-fighting gasoline additive MTBE is getting into drinking water, the Environmental Protection Agency reversed course and urged a prompt and significant rollback in use of the chemical.
WQWM	Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) in Drinking Water. Drinking water containing high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may be harmful to human health
NAP	Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Detroit News	Gasoline additive [MTBE] poses cruel choice: Clean air or clean water? SACRAMENTO, Calif. 1/22/2000 -- It smells like turpentine and spreads through water so quickly and thoroughly that a scant spoonful can foul an Olympic-sized swimming pool. MTBE, a widely used gasoline additive that makes cars burn cleaner, has posed a cruel dilemma: It's making the air cleaner, but it's polluting the water. A suspected animal carcinogen with unknown health effects on humans, MTBE has become the curse of water officials from California to New England. Leaking from gas stations' underground fuel tanks, it has forced wells to close, run up millions of dollars in cleanup costs, sparked suits and prompted state, local and federal investigations into a petrochemical that is still something of a mystery.