What are the Health Effects Of Drinking Water Contaminants?
Chemicals in drinking water which are toxic may cause either acute or chronic health effects. An acute effect usually follows a large dose of a chemical and occurs almost immediately. Examples of acute health effects are nausea, lung irritation, skin rash, vomiting, dizziness, and, in the extreme, death. The levels of chemicals in drinking water, however, are seldom high enough to cause acute health effects. They are more likely to cause chronic health effects, effects that occur after exposure to small amounts of a chemical over a long period. Examples of chronic health effects include cancer, birth defects, organ damage, disorders of the nervous system, and damage to the immune system. Evidence relating chronic human health effects to specific drinking water contaminants is very limited. In the absence of exact scientific information, scientists predict the likely adverse effects of chemicals in drinking water using laboratory animal studies and, when available, human data from clini
