If you are wondering what metals to scan for drinking water, these immediately come to mind - arsenic, barium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, thallium and others.
You can get your tap water tested to see if these and other metals are in it. Or you can depend on your municipal water authority to advise you if excess amounts of those metals are present in your tap water.
You see, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA determines what is called the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for certain contaminants. The EPA believes that the mcl is the highest amount of a contaminant that is allowed in the water supply without exposing consumers to health risks.
Water authorities are duty bound to screen for contaminants that have mcl values assigned to them. If a contaminant is found to exist in the water supply above the mcl, water authorities must take steps to reduce the contamination. They must also notify you and other customers of the contamination.
However, whilst you might feel that there is no need to worry about what metals to scan for drinking water because your water authority will notify you of any contamination, there is something you may not be aware of.
Over the long term, consumers could be faced with health risks should they drink tap water that contains metals and other contaminants below their mcl vales.
Ponder this analogy - drinking tap water can be similar to breathing in polluted air in a city. Breathing that air won't immediately kill you or give you instant health problems. But breathing that polluted air over a number of years could pose a health risk.
Similarly, drinking tap water that contains trace amounts of harmful metals won't instantly harm you but drink that water over years and years could have a cumulative adverse health effect.
Look at lead for example - the CDC estimates that around 1 million children in America suffer from lead poisoning - most of that poison coming from the water they drink.
This poisoning can affect their brains, kidneys and livers. Some scientists have linked some learning and behavioral problems to lead poisoning. And this is just one metal - the others can damage people's health too.
So, now that you know the problem, what is the solution?
The best thing to do is to get a water filtration system that can remove harmful metals from your tap water. Not every filtration system is equipped to do this.
However, by doing some research, you can find quality water filtering devices that are capable of getting rid of lead and other metals.
You can get your tap water tested to see if these and other metals are in it. Or you can depend on your municipal water authority to advise you if excess amounts of those metals are present in your tap water.
You see, under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA determines what is called the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for certain contaminants. The EPA believes that the mcl is the highest amount of a contaminant that is allowed in the water supply without exposing consumers to health risks.
Water authorities are duty bound to screen for contaminants that have mcl values assigned to them. If a contaminant is found to exist in the water supply above the mcl, water authorities must take steps to reduce the contamination. They must also notify you and other customers of the contamination.
However, whilst you might feel that there is no need to worry about what metals to scan for drinking water because your water authority will notify you of any contamination, there is something you may not be aware of.
Over the long term, consumers could be faced with health risks should they drink tap water that contains metals and other contaminants below their mcl vales.
Ponder this analogy - drinking tap water can be similar to breathing in polluted air in a city. Breathing that air won't immediately kill you or give you instant health problems. But breathing that polluted air over a number of years could pose a health risk.
Similarly, drinking tap water that contains trace amounts of harmful metals won't instantly harm you but drink that water over years and years could have a cumulative adverse health effect.
Look at lead for example - the CDC estimates that around 1 million children in America suffer from lead poisoning - most of that poison coming from the water they drink.
This poisoning can affect their brains, kidneys and livers. Some scientists have linked some learning and behavioral problems to lead poisoning. And this is just one metal - the others can damage people's health too.
So, now that you know the problem, what is the solution?
The best thing to do is to get a water filtration system that can remove harmful metals from your tap water. Not every filtration system is equipped to do this.
However, by doing some research, you can find quality water filtering devices that are capable of getting rid of lead and other metals.