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Section 5 Chicho Tribune, Monday, September
20, 1993
High Copper Levels in Water
Can Cause Diarrhea, Vomiting
By Dr. Neil Solomon
LOS ANGLES TIMES SYNDICATE
| Q |
-It bas almost reached the point
where it's becoming funny, but every day I seem to read about
something else that can cause health problems. I had just
become used to the idea that lead in the drinking water coule be
dangerous, when I read that copper in the duinking water also
can be dangerous. Is this really something we have to be
concerned about, |
| or are these warnings
just the work of overenthusiastic bureaucrats who are trying to
show how important their jobs are ? |
A - High levels of copper in
the drinking water are no laughing matter.Copper can cause
nausea and can irritate the gastrointestinal system,and high levels
of copper in drinking water have
been reported to cause diarrhea
and vomiting.How high a level
of copper is needed to produce
these symptoms is not clear, but
infants appear to be at greater
risk than older individuals.
Copper pipes that are part of
the plumbing system are the primary source of the copper found
in drinking water. Copper levels
may be particularly high when
water remains in the pipes overnight. As is the case with lead, the
copper in drinking water can be
reduced by permitting the water
to run a while before using any
of it for drinking or cooking.
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