Is tap water safe for expectant mothers?

[Celebration]

http://www.physorg.com/news131623485.html

Drinking water disinfected by chlorine while pregnant may increase the risk of having children with heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects, according to a study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health.

This finding, based on an analysis of nearly 400,000 infants in Taiwan, is the first that links by-products of water chlorination to three specific birth defects.

Water chlorination is a widely used and efficient method to disinfect drinking water and reduce the occurrence of waterborne diseases. However, numerous studies have revealed the presence of many chlorination by-products in the water. Recent research suggests that prenatal exposure to these by-products may increase the risk of birth defects.

..............snip..................


Exposure to total trihalomethanes above 20 ug/L was associated with an increased risk of 50 to 100% compared with levels below 5 ug/L. These results were corroborated by additional analyses, using pooled data from a number of similar studies.

[Cant trust em]

1. Probably fine, but a Brita filter wouldn't hurt.

If that's whatyou need for some peace of mind, then I'd say do it.

[Donnachaidh]

4. And invest in a shower filter as well

We bought a showerhead filter at Home Depot for $35. Filters are changed every six months. Pamper yourself and your baby.

We've already seen a drop in the need for lotions due to dried out chlorinated skin.

[wtmusic]

2. Carbon filters are effective at removing chlorine

but for the other stuff -- heavy metals and other groundwater contaminants -- you need a reverse-osmosis unit.

Or buy bottled water.

[valerief]

3. Thanks goodness China is doing this research. All the U.S. does

is kill.

[populistdriven]

5. I would use a Brita just in case your plumbing has any lead in it. Here is a dirty secret:

When my wife was pregnant with our first child I installed an under the sink Sears water filtration that had two large carbon filters. At 6 months pregnancy we got a letter from Sears saying that they had recalled a lot of carbon filters because of Nickel contamination. Luckily we were not in the lot in question.

Activated charcoal is used in 55 gallon drums to treat waste water and hazardous cleanup sites and in industrial facilities. They are supposed to dispose of the contents as hazardous waste. But after drying out the contents look the same as unused charcoal. All it takes is one unscrupulous person to dry it out and resell it for alot of people to suffer unknowingly.

For this reason I would stick to the top name brands that have a volume of units sold.

We now use a $45 sears ultimate filter in our fridge that is made by Pur. This is mostly for taste since municipal water is extremely safe. I would trust muni water more than bottled water.

Google the lead sampling protocols for drinking water. You will see that they require a first draw sample and a 2 minute flush sample to capture the difference between the extremely common problem of plumbing contamination. It is ALWAYS a good idea to run the water for 60 - 120 seconds before drawing off water to drink.

[OutaTowner]

6. I agree

Ya, I definitely say that using a home filter is the way to go.

I've also heard of a couple of semi-conflicting, semi-not-conflicting facts... That municipal water is held to much higher safety standards than bottled water; and that bottled water is more often than not just packaged tap water. (the semi-conflicting part being that in all technicality, the bottled water would be at the same safety standard... But who knows how much the safety is checked once inside the factory)

I don't believe there is ever enough that could be done to protect the unborn, so it wouldn't hurt to buy some sort of filter just in case.

[BridgeTheGap]

7. As someone once put it to me:

"You don't eat the bread with the wrapper do you? Why would you drink the chlorine with the water?"

[trotsky]

8. So that person avoids all salt then? n/t