(NaturalNews) The water coming out of your faucets at home could be
teeming with a live bacterium known to cause a potentially deadly form
of pneumonia. New research published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology
reveals that more than half of all U.S. tap water is likely
contaminated with a bacterium linked to causing Legionnaires' disease,
the symptoms of which include fever, cough and chills.
To make
this discovery, researchers from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) collected 272 water samples from 68 taps across the country
over the course of two years. Upon analysis, 47 percent of these
samples tested positive for Legionella pneumophila, a bacterium
capable of developing into either Legionnaires' disease or the
less-severe Pontiac fever upon infection -- these two conditions are
collectively referred to as legionellosis.
As it turns out, nearly half of the taps from which water samples were collected, 32, were found to contain traces of L. pneumophila
in at least one collected sample. Of these 32 taps, 11 were identified
as containing the bacterium in multiple samples -- water samples were
collected from kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, drinking fountains and
refrigerator water dispensers, according to reports.
"Nearly half
of the taps showed the presence of L. pneumophila Sg1 [Serogroup 1] in
one sampling event and 16% of taps showed it in more than one sampling
event," reads the study's abstract. "This study is the first national
survey in documenting the occurrence and colonization of L. pneumophila
Sg1 in cold water from point of use taps."
Though relatively rare, infections leading to legionellosis are mostly caused by L. pneumophila
when they do emerge, which supports the urgent relevance of this latest
investigation. If potentially millions of Americans are being regularly
exposed to a bacterium that could, in some cases, kill them, then
public health agencies need to address the problem, or at the very least
warn the public.
Inhaling contaminated water vapor risky; drinking it, not so much
At the same time, Legionnaires' disease is said to only be contractedthrough airborne exposure, which means that drinking contaminated water
is not necessarily an issue. However, breathing in the vapors of
contaminated water during a hot shower, for instance, or from the
condensation of an air conditioning unit is a possible risk.
"If
your drinking water has legionella bacteria in it, you will not catch
[the disease] unless you aspirate the water, or during showers you
inhale the water mist," writes one CBS Philly commenter about the
study's findings. "You will not catch it from other people or
ingestion, unless you aspirate," he adds, a position also affirmed by MedicineNet.com.
You can view the full study abstract as published by the American Chemical Society here: http://pubs.acs.org.
Sources for this article include:
http://pubs.acs.org
http://www.sciencenews.org
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com
http://www.medicinenet.com
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