Author: Laurel Hamers / Source: Science News for Students
1) Microbes
Untreated water can host plenty of harmful bacteria and viruses.
That’s why starting in the early 1900s, U.S. cities began disinfecting their drinking water with chlorine. Afterward, rates of waterborne disease, such as cholera (KAH-lur-uh) and typhoid (TY-foid), dropped sharply. Typhoid, caused by a type of Salmonella bacteria, used to sicken one in every 1,000 people in 1900. By 2006, the rate was down to one in every million.2) By-products of disinfection
Chlorine and bromine can kill many dangerous waterborne germs. But these disinfectants also can react with other chemicals in the water. The results may be new and dangerous by-products. One that can show up: chloroform. This chemical is toxic to the kidneys, liver and brain.
3) Industrial chemicals
Many companies use perfluorinated (Per-FLOR-ih-nay-ted) compounds, or PFCs, to make everything from nonstick coatings (like Teflon) to firefighting foams. They are so widely used that these chemicals have been showing up in water. They also are hard to remove from drinking water and hard to track.
With super-strong chemical bonds between their carbon and fluorine atoms, these pollutants won’t break down naturally in the environment. And water treatment plants were never designed to remove them.
Some research has linked PFCs to a higher risk of certain cancers, to learning problems, to growth deficits and to fertility problems. Close to 5,000 different PFCs exist today, very few of which are regulated,…
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