Chemical Contaminants in Drinking Water: Where Do We Go from Here?
Abstract
Given the number of chemicals in the environment and people’s variability in exposure and susceptibility to harm, it’s a daunting challenge to catalog all possible drinking water contaminants and assess their associated health risks. But after reviewing the state of the science and the data gaps surrounding drinking water contaminants, a team of authors presents in this issue of EHP an ambitious roadmap to help future studies identify and elucidate risks presented by specific contaminants.1
Although microbial agents are the largest cause of waterborne diseases worldwide,1 chemical contaminants in drinking water have been associated with a broad array of adverse health effects, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, and miscarriage.2 Some contaminants enter water through leaching, accidental spills, runoff, and atmospheric deposition. Others, such as disinfection by-products and lead, are introduced during treatment or even at the tap.3
Contaminants may occur naturally, or they may derive from human-related activities, such as industry, agriculture, and mining. Not only have the prevalence and uses of chemicals escalated in the last century, but the analytical techniques to detect them have become exquisitely sensitive.4,5 Consequently, it is possible to define vanishingly small levels of both well-studied and emerging contaminants in drinking water.
The presence of a contaminant does not necessarily translate to an adverse impact on human health; the…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence.
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