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Lead in drinking water has always been a major concern with health authorities in the last few decades. The reason behind this is that lead poisoning is now proven to be dangerous or even fatal in extreme cases. Children are especially susceptible to lead poisoning because the lead in their systems can build up over time, as they grow older.
What can Lead in Our Drinking Water do to us? If our exposure to lead is mild, we would probably experience nausea, abdominal pain, headache, insomnia, and chest pain. We could also become either hyperactive or lethargic. Continued exposure, however, can lead to anemia, weight loss, kidney failure and coma. While death is rare in lead poisoning, it can nonetheless become fatal.
In children, continuous exposure to lead in drinking water slows down their mental development. Their IQs become lower and their performance in school becomes poor. This is over and above the other health problems that lead poisoning can cause.
How We Get Lead in Our Drinking Water
High levels of lead in drinking water are observed in two places: in houses built in the 1930s or earlier, and in houses less than five years old. Old buildings have high levels of lead in its water because the pipes used for plumbing prior to the 1930s were made of lead.
New houses – that is, houses less than five years old – are also susceptible to getting exacerbated levels of lead in the water. The copper pipes being used in plumbing newer houses and buildings still contain lead solder. As time passes, the minerals in the water form a layer of coating on the inner side of the pipes, but this coating has yet to be built in new houses.
Houses where the fixtures – the faucets and the fittings – are made of brass are also prone to having ?cat=389" lead levels in water .
How to Protect Ourselves from Lead in Drinking Water
The only way we can ever know if there is lead in our drinking water is to test for lead in the water. ?cat=389" Lead Testing in water is done in a laboratory. The testing procedure varies, but samples are always brought to the laboratory. The acceptable level of lead in drinking water is no more than 15 parts per billion (ppb). One ppb is equal to 1 microgram (or 0.001 milligram) of lead per liter of water.
If your water is tested positive for high levels of lead, you should contact the authorities if you are using water from a public source. But if you are using water from a well or from any private source, you should get a filter for your water and you should replace this filter regularly.
Another thing you can do to avoid lead poisoning is to let the water run from your faucet for around two minutes before using it if the water has been standing for more than six hours (while you were sleeping or while you were out at work). Letting the water run flushes the lead out.
Also, instead of using the hot water from your tap, you should instead use cold water for cooking, drinking and preparing baby formula. More lead is dissolved in hot water.
Lead poisoning is dangerous, if not entirely fatal. Testing for lead in your water is the only way you would know that your drinking water is safe from lead contamination.
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