Lead: An Age Old Threat Which Carries On In The General Water Supply

As mentioned earlier, lead in the water supply is still an issue in many areas of the US.

With at least 3,810 areas known to have high levels of lead in their water supply.

The fact is the only safe level of lead in water is zero. If there is lead in your water, then your health, and the health of your family. Is at risk.

Even the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences agrees with this point:

“No amount of lead is safe. Eliminating all lead exposure in our environment is our best course of action.”

Pure and simple.

Lead in water has been linked to decreases in the level of I.Q. In children.

As an indication of the types of things that can happen to the health of a child from consuming lead, from water or anything else. The following have been noted by NIEHS.

At levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter. Noting that 1 liter is a tenth of a deciliter, so that’s 0.000001 grams per liter, just to give you an idea how small an amount we are talking about here.

At that amount of lead per liter of water, there are associations with increased behavioral problems, decreased cognitive performance, loss of hearing ability, late maturing of the body and assorted issues with growth and height.

So in a standard glass of water, which is 8 ounces, or 240 milliliters.

That’s 0.00000024 grams of lead or less.

That can cause those health issues.

Yet at levels below 5 micrograms per liter, which is 0.00000012 grams per standard glass of water. Some of those issues can still happen. And in many ways, even at the lower level, the effects are incredibly damaging to anyone’s, especially a child’s, life.

Even at the lower level, below 5 micrograms per liter, lower IQ scores and decreased academic achievement have been noted. Plus issues like behavioral problems, including attention-related behavioral issues. With attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, being among those issues.

All from just tiny amounts of lead in your water supply.

Even as an adult, lead has an effect on your brain, and your ability to think. Lead in your water also brings host of other health issues too.

Below 5 micrograms per liter of water there are some additional unpleasant effects for adults. Decreased kidney function being one. Your kidneys are two of the most vital organs in your body. They filter and clean your blood, and keep you healthy. When they become less effective, you have issues with fatigue and toxins can build up in your body creating other health challenges.

If you are pregnant, or planning on having a family, small amounts of lead can be bad.

Even below 5 micrograms per liter, reduced fetal growth has been noted by scientists.

Start going above 10 micrograms per liter and health challenges with things like increased blood pressure, hypertension, tremors and the incidence of essential tremor start coming.

Lead has a far from pleasant effect on the central nervous system. And your central nervous system is critical to everything you do in life. The electrical impulses that travel along your nerves, let you know what is happening. They also carry signals that tell your muscles and limbs what to do.

Eating, writing, driving even just sitting and enjoying a TV show needs a healthy central nervous system.

As soon as it starts degrading, many things in life becoming challenging.

Go above 15 micrograms of lead per liter of water, that’s 0.00000036 grams per standard glass of water. And increased cardiovascular effects are noticeable. As are greatly decreased kidney function and fertility problems. There can be delays with conception, with adverse effects on both the male and female reproductive systems.

These things are just from short term exposure.

Longer term, even with small amounts. The effects can be even greater, and can also result in things like cataracts and loss of vision.

There is zero safe level of lead in water. Period.

And with public health incidents like Flint MI, plus the noted elevated levels of lead in the water supply all around the country.

It is truly worth ensuring that you have a water filtration system that filters the lead out of your water. Throughout your entire home.

So that every faucet has pure water in your entire house has safe, drinkable, pure water for you and your family.

Lead free, pure water, is critical to enjoying a good quality of life.