Ensuring clean drinking water can keep serious ailment at bay
Shinjini Saha, INN/Gwalior, @InfodeaofficialÂ
Just ensure the water you drink is clean, it can save you from incurring serious ailment at a later stage. Driving home the need to ensure clean drinking water The International Agency for Research on Cancer says drinking water can be infested with chemicals like Arsenic.Â
Intake of the chemical can cause lung, bladder and skin cancer. Arsenic is a natural element that can be found in rocks and soil, water, air and in plants and animals. For most people, food is the largest source of arsenic.Â
Drinking water is an important and potentially controllable source of arsenic exposure. In parts of India, China, Taiwan, Bangladesh and Western America, high levels of arsenic occur naturally in drinking water and can be a major source of arsenic exposure.
IARC classifies arsenic and inorganic arsenic compounds as carcinogenic to humans. IARC classifies the organic arsenic compounds Dimethylarsenic Acid (DMA, also known as cacodylic acid) and monomethylarsenic acid (MMA) as possibly carcinogenic to humans.
The first symptoms of long-term exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic are usually observed in the skin, and include pigmentation changes, skin lesions and hard patches on the palms and soles of the feet.
These occur after a minimum exposure of approximately five years and may be a precursor to skin cancer. In addition to skin cancer, long-term exposure to arsenic may also cause cancers of the bladder and lungs.
Arsenic is also associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant mortality, with impacts on child health and exposure in utero and in early childhood has been linked to increase mortality in young adults due to multiple cancers, lung disease, heart attacks and kidney failure.
Arsenic contamination of ground water is widespread and there are a number of regions where arsenic contamination of drinking water is significant.  It is now recognized that atleast 140 million people in 50 countries have been drinking water containing arsenic at levels above the WHO provisional guideline value of 10”g/L.
Public drinking water systems are required to test for arsenic and to keep it below a certain level (10ppb).  If your drinking water comes from a public source, you can find out about the levels of certain substances in your drinking water, including arsenic, by contacting your local water system.Â