(Fwd) Tap water linked to miscarriages

["Charlie Cray" <ccray@dialb.greenpeace.org>]

FYI--

Tap Water-Miscarriage Link Found
[Study published in Feb. 18 edition of the journal EPIDEMIOLOGY]

Pregnant women in their first trimester who
drink five or more glasses of cold tap water daily may be at higher
risk of miscarriage, according to a study of California chlorinated
drinking water.

The heightened risk is linked to exposure to a contaminant found
in chlorinated water in a majority of municipal water systems
nationwide. The chemical -- trihalomethane (TTHM) -- forms when
chlorine reacts with acids from plant material.

Chlorine helps purify water and prevents bacterial infections.
TTHMs have been associated with increased cancer risk, at least in
animals, and federal regulators have limited the amount allowed in
drinking water.

The study, led by California health department investigators
Kirsten Waller and Shanna Swann, examined the records of 5,144
pregnant women from the Fontana, Santa Clara and Walnut Creek
areas.

The study, which will be published in the Feb. 18 issue of the
journal Epidemiology, found that women who drank five or more
glasses of tap water per day with at least 75 micrograms per liter
of TTHMs had an increased risk of miscarriage.

Their risk was calculated at 15.7 percent, compared with 9.5
percent among women who received low exposure. Only about 2 percent
of the women were exposed to the highest risk levels, meaning they
consumed five or more glasses with at least 75 micrograms per
liter.

All the women drank water that met state and federal drinking
standards.

``You do run a risk if drinking unboiled water,'' said S. David
Freeman, the general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power, America's largest municipal utility.

``Nobody knows how high,'' he said. ``The most practical thing that
we've come up with is to tell women in that category to boil some
water and put it in the refrigerator.''

The Environmental Protection Agency allows up to 100 micrograms of
TTHMs per liter. The agency plans to reduce that standard to 80
micrograms in November.

State and federal officials said the study is not definitive and
more tests are planned. It is part of an effort by the EPA to
balance the need for protection against microbes -- such as those
that cause dysentery and cholera -- with the need to keep the
dangers of disinfection itself to a minimum.

At the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies most of Southern
California outside Los Angeles, officials said the average levels
of TTHM are well below those that triggered concern in the study.

But within Los Angeles, the average concentration in tap water
exceeds that level. State health officials advised women to heed
their doctors' recommendations on fluid intake, but offered other
steps.

For example, carbon-filtered tap water can be left standing in the
refrigerator for several hours or water can be boiled for a minute
and then left to cool. But the study was not large enough to allow
researchers to calculate precise effects.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To get off the CONS-EQST-HORMONE-MIMICS list, send an email message to:
    LISTSERV@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG
with the message text (not subject): SIGNOFF CONS-EQST-HORMONE-MIMICS

Charlie Cray
Greenpeace US Toxics Campaign
847 W. Jackson Blvd., 7th floor
Chicago, IL 60607
Ph: (312) 563-6063
Fax: (312) 563-6099
Note new e-mail address: Charlie.Cray@dialb.greenpeace.org