TOP 5 MOST PERVASIVE CARCINOGENS IN DRINKING WATER - Several carcinogens commonly find their way into tap water. These are largely tasteless and odorless, making them difficult to detect without proper equipment. The chemical known as 1,4-Dioxane has been used as a stabilizer in industrial applications for over six decades. This compound is also present in inks and adhesives and has been classified as a likely carcinogen to humans. It is also present in many shampoos and detergents, where it exists as a byproduct of the manufacturing process. Whereas 1,4-Dioxane is a likely carcinogen, arsenic is known to be an especially formidable one. This element occurs naturally in the earth and can be present as deposits in rocks and other excavations. It also leaches into soil and water as a result of mining refuse, the production of metals and power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels. Otherwise known as hexavalent chronium, Chronium-6 causes cancer even in very small doses, making it a particularly insidious carcinogen and a very present danger in our drinking water. It is used in plenty of industrial processes and products, including dyes for fabrics, preserving wood, preventing corrosion and welding metals like stainless steel. Disinfecting water is a massively important process in the modern world and is one of the factors responsible for our ability to distribute drinking water via a grid to large portions of society.

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Top 5 Most Pervasive Carcinogens In Drinking Water

Multipure

Recent headlines about water quality have grabbed the nation’s attention and left many wondering what they can do to protect their homes and families.

While there are instances of cancer-causing chemicals in tap water, the good news is that filtration systems can keep chemical water pollution out of your home.

Several carcinogens commonly find their way into tap water. These are largely tasteless and odorless, making them difficult to detect without proper equipment.

It is important to know about them for several reasons:

Health: Your and your family’s health can be significantly affected by these carcinogens.

Applying Pressure on Utility Companies: If you know what carcinogens to look for, you will know what type of pressure to apply on your local utility company to remove them.

Here is some information on the top five cancer-causing agents present in tap water.

1. 1,4-Dioxane

The chemical known as 1,4-Dioxane has been used as a stabilizer in industrial applications for over six decades.

This compound is also present in inks and adhesives and has been classified as a likely carcinogen to humans.

In liquid form, it is clear and has a faintly sweet odor.

It is also present in many shampoos and detergents, where it exists as a byproduct of the manufacturing process.

1,4-Dioxane dissolves completely in water but does not easily break down, causing it to remain as a contaminant for long periods of time.

This carcinogen leaches into the water supply as a result of its use in industry.

Though it is more carefully regulated today, it was heavily used for many years and accumulated in landfills. From there, it seeps into the groundwater.

Because it blends so easily with water, it moves through soil effortlessly and subsequently reaches surface water.

From there, it can cause damage to kidneys and irritation of the lungs in addition to cancer.

Wastewater treatment plants cannot remove 1,4-Dioxane from water in significant quantities, which makes it especially persistent in surface water.

According to the EPA, 1,4-Dioxane at a concentration of 0.35 parts per billion is the amount predicted to lead to a maximum of one case of cancer in a sample of one million people.

This level is generally accepted to be the minimum standard for safety.

While 1,4-Dioxane has not been explicitly implicated as a cause of cancer, its administration via drinking water has caused liver cancer in laboratory rats.

Consequently, both the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services consider it a likely candidate for causing cancer.

2. Arsenic

Whereas 1,4-Dioxane is a likely carcinogen, arsenic is known to be an especially formidable one.

This element occurs naturally in the earth and can be present as deposits in rocks and other excavations.

It also leaches into soil and water as a result of mining refuse, the production of metals and power plants that burn coal and other fossil fuels.

Arsenic is a useful n-type doping agent within silicon semiconductors and is used in an ever-shrinking list of consumer products.

Arsenic gets into the water supply in many different ways.

It can come as a byproduct of agriculture, excavation, mining, and chemical or other types of industry.

It is present in smoke from tobacco and the smoke from burning pressure-treated lumber.

Those who have water delivered by a utility company may find arsenic in their tap water, while those who have dug wells are at risk of naturally-occurring arsenic in their well water.

A 2015 study found that over 70 million Americans had unsafe levels of arsenic in their water.

This type of arsenic, known as inorganic arsenic, comes from the ground and is more harmful than the arsenic found in many food products.

Because arsenic is always present in our bodies, it is the particular levels that are of concern.

When our water contains fewer than 10 parts per billion of arsenic, food becomes the main contributor to our arsenic levels.

Arsenic is associated with many medical ailments:

o  Cancer of the bladder, lungs, liver, kidneys, prostate, and skin

o  Damages internal organs and leads to cardiovascular diseases

o  Interfering with cellular functions

Even the EPA’s legal limit of 10 parts per billion is likely too high, as it still contributes 600 cases of cancer to every one million people.

More recent EPA research has found arsenic to be 17 times more poisonous than preceding research had indicated, but there is political pressure that may be preventing these findings from coming to light.

3. Chronium-6

Otherwise known as hexavalent chronium, this chemical received its moment in the spotlight with the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich.”

Chronium-6 causes cancer even in very small doses, making it a particularly insidious carcinogen and a very present danger in our drinking water.

It is used in plenty of industrial processes and products, including dyes for fabrics, preserving wood, preventing corrosion and welding metals like stainless steel.

One frustrating roadblock to keeping chronium-6 out of tap water is that there is currently no safe federal limit.

An older study, which limited chronium-6 and chronium-3 to 100 parts per billion, listed the two chemicals as skin irritants.

It was later revealed that chrobium-6 could cause cancer.

When researchers in the EPA completed a new study in 2011, which concluded that chromium-6 was indeed dangerously carcinogenic, the industry applied pressure and its released was postponed.

It could still be some time before chronium-6 in drinking water is limited.

Chromium-6 may be present in at least 75% of American drinking water supplies. It finds its way into them from industrial processes and spills.

For instance, a steel plant in Indiana was responsible for a spill that dumped 300 pounds of chromium-6 into a local waterway in 2017.

This release of chromium-6 was nearly 600 times the limit allowed by law. Spills aside, the chemical leaches into the water table from industrial processes and runoff.

Chromium-6 causes skin irritation when it is used in tanning leather or other similar products.

Ingesting it leads to a host of unwelcome side effects, including liver toxicity, stomach ulcers and irritation, tooth decay and asthma.

It is mostly banned within the European Union due to its health hazards.

4. Disinfection Byproducts

Disinfecting water is a massively important process in the modern world and is one of the factors responsible for our ability to distribute drinking water via a grid to large portions of society.

Chemicals like chlorine kill potentially deadly disease agents like cholera and dysentery that are a cause of so many deaths in other parts of the world.

When chlorine and similar disinfectants combine with waste products from plants and animals in our water system, however, they can form carcinogenic impurities. These are called disinfection byproducts.

Disinfection byproducts lead to a greater risk of cancer and might even cause harm to fetuses.

There are at least 250 million Americans who ingest disinfection byproducts in their drinking water.

Dangerous examples include four types of trihalomethanes, five different types of haloacetic acids, bromate and chlorite.

However, this is just the set of disinfectant byproducts identified by the government as dangerous — there are hundreds more that have been identified outside of these.

Because disinfection is such a critical part of our infrastructure, it is important to integrate disinfection byproduct removal with our current methods of killing diseases.

However, as it stands, disinfection byproducts find their way into the water as a result of organic waste flowing into reservoirs and mixing with disinfectants.

While the government and utility providers have experimented with different disinfectants to minimize harmful byproducts, the most promising method is preventing organic waste from entering the water system in the first place.

Trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids are the most prevalent disinfectant byproducts in drinking water.

These cause bladder cancer and have led to tumors in the intestines, livers, and kidneys of lab animals.

Chlorite can harm thyroid function and sperm as well as cause stomach ulcers.

Presently, it appears to be a carcinogen — albeit not a particularly powerful one.

Bromate is a disinfectant byproduct that can cause damage to DNA and is the result of the ozonation of water in treatment plants.

5. Nitrate

Nitrate is a carcinogen affecting more than half of the United States’ population.

Nitrate is present in chemical fertilizers, manure and wastewater effluent from treatment plants.

It is extremely common in areas with heavy agriculture and can reside in water wells near livestock or septic tanks.

In 1962, the federal government imposed a limit of 10 milligrams per liter of nitrate, which was sufficient to prevent blue baby syndrome in newborns.

However, the limit has not been updated since learning that nitrate is a carcinogen.

Aside from being a byproduct of agriculture, nitrate also exists naturally in soil. However, this level is greatly increased by the addition of nitrate-rich fertilizers.

When rain falls, it washes much of this nitrate away, carrying it into rivers and the water table.

From there, it enters wells, reservoirs, lakes and other sources of water that people use to drink.

Nitrate often exists in conjunction with nitrite, which is even more dangerous to humans.

One interesting note about nitrate is its concentration in leafy vegetables.

When we consume these, we are also consuming nitrate — though the vegetables also contain enough antioxidants to have a net positive health effect.

Tap water remains the other primary source of nitrates and is especially dangerous for infants.

Nitrate leads to methemoglobinemia, or blue baby syndrome, in which a baby’s bloodstream is starved of oxygen.

Additionally, it leads to thyroid problems and can cause thyroid cancer in women.

It harms reproduction and damages DNA, which can lead to cancer in the blood, throat, and other organs.

Despite the mandates of the 1962 limit, it is likely that a lower level of nitrate should be ingested to avoid long-term health effects.

Unfortunately, agriculture continues to use more and more fertilizers.

This means we will have to find ways to alter agricultural practices to limit the amount of nitrate that runs off fields.

How do I know if my water contains these chemicals?

Due to a large amount of interest in public safety, there are several resources to start out with when trying to gauge the quality of your local water.

One of the first places to search is on the EPA’s interactive water quality map. By typing in your zip code or city, you can view waterways that are impaired in your area.

This allows you to see immediately if the government has identified a water safety issue near you.

Additionally, you can view discharge sites. These are places where industrial concerns dump their waste.

If you are downriver from any of these discharge sites, it is a good idea to invest in a water filtration system.

Generally, it is a good idea no matter what. If you receive water from a utility company, that water may come from some distance away.

If you have a well, there could be chemicals or metals leaching into your well water, and filtration is a great way to ensure your safety.

You can also search for local water providers by going to the Environmental Working Group’s tap water database. Here, you can again type in your zip code and will receive a list of all tap water providers nearby.

Getting a professional water test is the surest way to know what your water contains and what precautions you need to take to ensure its purity.

Contact a local water testing organization to test your tap water.

What can I do to remove these chemicals from my drinking water?

Water filters come in many shapes and sizes to treat drinking water. At Multipure, we offer a broad selection of filtration systems for homes and businesses. Here are some of the products we have to choose from:

Aqualuxe: Built to offer a combination of artistic beauty and superb functionality, the Aqualuxe is an NSF-certified system that uses carbon block technology to filter out chemicals, viruses, and bacteria from drinking water. It provides peace of mind through industry-leading water filtration performance.

Aquaversa: This NSF-certified system can be used on a countertop or below the sink. Its carbon block filter treats both aesthetic and health contaminants.

Aquaperform: This NSF-certified system adds additional media to the carbon block to reduce the amount of Arsenic V in water. It comes in a stainless steel housing and is extremely effective at reducing impurities found in tap water.

Aquadome: This NSF-certified system comes in a plastic casing that is resistant to both impacts and high pressure and is easy to install for countertop uses.

Come to Multipure to taste the difference

When the safety of the natural environment and your family is on the line, look no further than

Multipure to provide top-of-the-line protection. Our broad range of Solid Carbon Block filters keep carcinogens out of your system and gives you control over the quality of the water in your home. Browse our products today and contact us with any questions.

Water is everywhere - in the air, in the ground, in the rivers and lakes. Water affects our body

and mind, from our skin and muscles to our metabolism and focus. Water is life.

Multipure is dedicated to better water, better health, and better lives. We are the premier manufacturer of high quality drinking water systems, filters, and purifiers, and our vision is demonstrated through

innovative water filtration technology and an extraordinary opportunity for success.

Welcome to Multipure, and welcome to our rich history, tradition, and leadership in

water treatment and the improvement of people's lives.

https://www.multipure.com/purely-social/science/top-5-pervasive-carcinogens-drinking-water/

AIR POLLUTION - The term "air pollution" is used so commonly that you may not think definitions are necessary. Some sources define smog as the presence of unnatural levels of ground-level ozone, while other sources say things like "fog mixed with smoke." A more modern and precise definition is "a photochemical haze caused by the action of solar ultraviolet radiation on atmosphere polluted with hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen especially from automobile exhaust." Officially, air pollution can be defined as the presence of harmful substances in the air, either particulates or microscopic biologic molecules, that pose health hazards to living organisms, such as people, animals or plants. Air pollution comes in many forms and may include a number of different pollutants and toxins in various combinations. Air pollution is far more than a nuisance or inconvenience. Air pollution causes the deaths of approximately 4.2 million people annually worldwide. The two most widespread types of air pollution are the ozone and particle pollution (soot), but air pollution also may include serious pollutants such as carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxins such as mercury, arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, and acid gases. Most of these pollutants are man-made, but some air pollution is due to natural causes, such as ash from volcanic eruptions.

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Air Pollution

What Is Air Pollution?

Definition, Facts, and Environmental Risks

By Larry West

The term "air pollution" is used so commonly that you may not think definitions are necessary. But the issue is more complicated than it first appears. 

Ask most people to define air pollution, and their first response is to describe smog, the smelly stuff that turns the air brown or gray and hovers over urban centers like Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Beijing.

Even here, though, definitions vary.

Some sources define smog as the presence of unnatural levels of ground-level ozone, while other sources say things like "fog mixed with smoke."

A more modern and precise definition is "a photochemical haze caused by the action of solar ultraviolet radiation on atmosphere polluted with hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen especially from automobile exhaust."

Officially, air pollution can be defined as the presence of harmful substances in the air, either particulates or microscopic biologic molecules, that pose health hazards to living organisms, such as people, animals or plants.

Air pollution comes in many forms and may include a number of different pollutants and toxins in various combinations.

Air pollution is far more than a nuisance or inconvenience.

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution causes the deaths of approximately 4.2 million people annually worldwide.

What Constitutes Air Pollution?

The two most widespread types of air pollution are the ozone and particle pollution (soot), but air pollution also may include serious pollutants such as carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxins such as mercury, arsenic, benzene, formaldehyde, and acid gases.

Most of these pollutants are man-made, but some air pollution is due to natural causes, such as ash from volcanic eruptions. 

The specific composition of air pollution in a particular location depends primarily on the source or sources of pollution.

Automobile exhaust, coal-fired power plants, industrial factories, and other pollution sources all spew different types of pollutants and toxins into the air.

While we think of air pollution as a condition describing outside air, the air quality within your home is equally important.

Cooking vapors, carbon monoxide from heating appliances, off-gassing of formaldehyde and other chemicals from furniture and construction materials, and secondhand tobacco smoke are all potentially dangerous forms of indoor air pollution. 

Air Pollution and Your Health

Air pollution hovers at unhealthy levels in almost every major U.S. city, interfering with people’s ability to breathe, causing or aggravating many serious health conditions, and placing lives at risk.

Many cities worldwide face the same issues, especially in so-called emerging economies such as China and India, where cleaner technologies are not yet in standard usage. 

Breathing ozone, particle pollution or other types of air pollution can seriously damage your health.

Inhaling ozone can irritate your lungs, "resulting in something like a bad sunburn within the lungs," according to the American Lung Association. Breathing particle pollution (soot) can increase your risk of heart attack, stroke and early death, and it may necessitate emergency-room visits for people with asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

A great many cancers are traced to chemical air pollutants. 

Air pollution is also a problem in developing countries that are not yet fully industrialized.

More than half the world's population still cook their meals with wood, dung, coal or other solid fuels over open fires or on primitive stoves inside their homes, breathing high levels of pollutants such as particulate pollution and carbon monoxide, which results in 1.5 million unnecessary deaths every year.

Who Is Most at Risk?

The health risks of air pollution are greatest among infants and young children, older adults and people with respiratory diseases such as asthma.

People who work or exercise outside also face increased health risks from the effects of air pollution, along with people who live or work near busy highways, factories or power plants.

In addition, minorities and people with low incomes are often disproportionately affected by air pollution because of where they live, which places them at higher risk for illnesses related to air pollution.

Low-income populations often live near industrial or inner-city zones where factories, utilities, and other industrial sources may create unusually high levels of air pollution. 

Air Pollution and the Health of the Planet

If air pollution affects humans, it of course also may also have an impact on animals and plant life.

Many animal species are threatened by high levels of air pollution, and weather conditions created by air pollution affect both animal and plant life.

For example, acid rain caused by the burning of fossil fuels has radically changed the nature of forests in the U.S. Northeast, upper Midwest, and Northwest.

And it is now indisputable that air pollution causes shifts in global weather patterns — the raising of global temperatures, the melting of polar ice sheets and the coming rise in ocean water levels. 

How Can Air Pollution Be Reduced?

The evidence is clear that our personal choices and industrial practices can affect the levels of air pollution.

Cleaner industrial technologies are shown to lower air pollution levels, and it can be demonstrated that anytime more primitive industrial practices increase, so do levels of dangerous air pollution.

Here are some of the obvious ways that humans can, and have reduced air pollution: 

o    Reduction of fossil fuel burning in favor of renewable energy sources. Nations that obtain their electrical power from nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind power have lower pollution levels than those that favor the burning of coal or natural gas. 

o    Improved gas mileage in automobiles and the introduction of electric-powered vehicles. California, for example, once plagued with dangerous smog, has greatly improved its air quality through tight controls on automobile emissions standards. Similarly, reduction in the use of other internal combustion engines can reduce air pollution. The shift to battery-operated or electric lawn mowers and lawn equipment, for example, has a demonstrable effect on air quality. 

o    Reduction in agricultural burning — the method of clearing forested areas for agriculture — can reduce the level of smoke and carbon dioxide in the air. This is a particular problem in developing countries. 

o    Reducing wood burning can also reduce levels of smoke in the air. In some communities, wood fireplaces are now outlawed, greatly reducing dangerous levels of smoke in the air. Gas fireplaces are better than wood-burners, and even better are electric fireplaces that burn no fuels at all. 

o    Indoor air quality is improved when tobacco smoking is restricted by ordinance. Citizen pressure to restrict smoking in public places has a real effect on air quality. 

o    Reduction of chemical compounds in paints, adhesives, and solvents has improved the quality of indoor and outdoor air. Always look for low VOC materials for home improvements, and where practical, opt for water-based rather than solvent-based paints and other materials. Look for carpets, fabrics, and furniture that don't off-gas dangerous fumes. 

Controlling pollution is possible, but it requires the individual and political will to do so, and these efforts must constantly be balanced with economic realities, as green technologies are often more expensive, especially when they are first introduced. 

Such choices are in the hands of each individual: for example, do you buy a cheap but dirty automobile or an expensive electric car?

Or are jobs for coal miners more important than clean air? 

These complex questions are not easily answered by individuals or governments, but they are questions that should be considered and debated with eyes open to the real effects of air pollution. 

Larry West

Environmental Journalist

Education

B.A., Journalism and Creative Writing, University of Washington

Introduction

Environmental journalist with 20+ years of experience

Winner, Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting

Writer and editor for Go West Strategic Communications since 2002

Experience

Larry West is a former writer for ThoughtCo who contributed articles for five years. He is a principal and professional writer and editor for Go West Strategic Communications. He has written about environmental issues for leading newspapers, magazines, and online publications. 

During his 20-year career in newspapers, Larry was part of an investigative team whose work was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He also received the Meeman Award for national environmental reporting from the Scripps Howard Foundation. Later, Larry served as press secretary and deputy chief of staff for a U.S. Representative and served as communications director for a U.S. Senator. He also managed public affairs for organizations including the Federal Aviation Administration, a global technology company, and one of the largest ports in the United States. In each of those positions, Larry was involved in environmental strategy, policy, and communications. 

Education

Larry studied journalism and creative writing at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He also taught research and writing courses in continuing education programs at the University of Washington and the University of Alaska. 

Awards and Publications

While working as a journalist for "The Seattle Times," Larry's work was awarded the Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting by Scripps Howard, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-air-pollution-1204103

SCHISTOSOMIASIS AND PESTICIDES - Pesticides speed the spread of deadly waterborne pathogens - Widespread use of pesticides and other agrochemicals can speed the transmission of the debilitating disease schistosomiasis, while also upsetting the ecological balances in aquatic environments that prevent infections, finds a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, is caused by parasitic worms that develop and multiply inside freshwater snails and is transmitted through contact with contaminated water. The infection, which can trigger lifelong liver and kidney damage, affects hundreds of millions of people every year and is second only to malaria among parasitic diseases, in terms of its global impact on human health. The study, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, found that agrochemicals can increase the transmission of the schistosome worm in myriad ways: by directly affecting the survival of the waterborne parasite itself, by decimating aquatic predators that feed on the snails that carry the parasite and by altering the composition of algae in the water, which is a major food source for snails. The findings come as the connections between environment and infectious disease have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by an emerging pathogen thought to be linked to wildlife.

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Schistosomiasis And Pesticides

Pesticides speed the spread of deadly waterborne pathogens

by University of California - Berkeley

A man waters his crops near Lampsar, a community about 12 miles  from the city of Saint Louis
 in the lower Senegal River Basin in West Africa. A new study led by researchers at the
University of California, Berkeley finds that use of some agricultural pesticides can speed
 the transmission of the debilitating disease schistosomiasis, while also upsetting the
ecological balances in aquatic environments that prevent infections.

Widespread use of pesticides and other agrochemicals can speed the transmission of the debilitating disease schistosomiasis, while also upsetting the ecological balances in aquatic environments that prevent infections, finds a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, is caused by parasitic worms that develop and multiply inside freshwater snails and is transmitted through contact with contaminated water.

The infection, which can trigger lifelong liver and kidney damage, affects hundreds of millions of people every year and is second only to malaria among parasitic diseases, in terms of its global impact on human health.

The study, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, found that agrochemicals can increase the transmission of the schistosome worm in myriad ways: by directly affecting the survival of the waterborne parasite itself, by decimating aquatic predators that feed on the snails that carry the parasite and by altering the composition of algae in the water, which provides a major food source for snails.

"We know that dam construction and irrigation expansion increase schistosomiasis transmission in low-income settings by disrupting freshwater ecosystems," said UC Berkeley's Christopher Hoover, a doctoral student in environmental health sciences and lead author of the study.

"We were shocked by the strength of evidence we found also linking agrochemical pollution to the amplification of schistosomiasis transmission."

The findings come as the connections between environment and infectious disease have been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by an emerging pathogen thought to be linked to wildlife.

"Environmental pollutants can increase our exposure and susceptibility to infectious diseases," said Justin Remais, chair of the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and senior author of the study.

"From dioxins decreasing resistance to influenza virus, to air pollutants increasing COVID-19 mortality, to arsenic impacting lower respiratory tract and enteric infections — research has shown that reducing pollution is an important way to protect populations from infectious diseases."

After combing through nearly 1,000 studies gathered in a systematic literature review, the research team identified 144 experiments that provided data connecting agrochemical concentrations to components of the schistosome life cycle.

They then incorporated these data into a mathematical model that captures the transmission dynamics of the parasite.

The model simulates concentrations of common agrochemicals following their application to agricultural fields and estimates the resulting impacts on infections in the nearby human population.

The researchers found that even low concentrations of common pesticides — including atrazine, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos — can increase rates of transmission and interfere with efforts to control schistosomiasis.

Agrochemical amplification of parasite transmission was not inconsequential.

In the study communities in the Senegal River Basin in West Africa, the excess burden of disease attributable to agrochemical pollution was on par with disease caused by lead exposure, high sodium diets and low physical activity.

"We need to develop policies that protect public health by limiting the amplification of schistosomiasis transmission by agrochemical pollution," Hoover said.

"More than 90% of schistosomiasis cases occur in areas of sub-Saharan Africa, where agrochemical use is expanding. If we can devise ways to maintain the agricultural benefits of these chemicals, while limiting their overuse in schistosomiasis-endemic areas, we could prevent additional harm to public health within communities that already experience a high and unacceptable burden of disease."

The University of California at Berkeley (UC-Berkeley) is the flagship of the University of California system. Berkeley was established in 1868 as the first of the public universities of the eventual 10 campuses. UC Berkeley has an acclaimed physics department. It is the manager of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Nearly 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students undertake UC Berkeley's 200 programs and individual post graduate degree programs. UC Berkeley has a solid $2 billion endowment with the ability to attract grants from the National Science Foundation and other foundations. UC Berkeley has numerous Nobel Laureates with ties to its university and Medal of Science recipients.world.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-pesticides-deadly-waterborne-pathogens.html