A reader named ‘Michele’ told us her son tested high for arsenic and the presence of parasites recently and wanted to know if she could test for one or both in her drinking water.

My son has recently been diagnosed with extreme arsenic levels and parasites…

Our doctor feels it may be from our water. We are in the suburbs, so have city water.

I have had health problems and so have our animals for a while now. I am wondering if our water is the cause.

I see a test for arsenic. Is there a test I can get to test for parasites in our water?

I would truly appreciate any information you could share with me!

Thank you!

Good morning, Michele, and thank you for your inquiry.

From what you described we would agree that your water may have something to do with the health problems you described in your son, your animals, and yourself. Prolonged exposure to a drinking water contaminant like arsenic can result in the appearance of a wide range of symptoms… and since your son has already tested ‘high’ for arsenic, it definitely stands to reason that you would want to test for the presence of dissolved arsenic in your water.

Simple test kits for arsenic like the Arsenic Quick test kits we carry allow home and business owners to readily and easily test for the presence of dissolved arsenic in their drinking water.

Regarding the parasites doctors found in your son’s body, well, the fact that you have city/tap water makes the likelihood of those parasites coming from the faucet quite low, but not impossible. Usually unwanted parasites get filtered out and/or neutralized via chemical or other process at a water system’s water treatment facility.

No at-home test kits exist for parasites (that we know about) so if you wish to test for parasites you will need to contact your local Health Department for a list of certified water testing laboratories and contract with one to come out, take a sample (or samples), get the sample(s) back to the lab quickly, and perform testing specifically for parasites.

A couple things to remember when it comes to parasites:

• A person can pick up unwanted parasites from sources other than drinking water. Foods may carry parasites and sometimes people may even pick certain types of parasites from contact with contaminated dirt, soil, mud, etc.
   
• Depending upon the parasite, some have the ability to exist in a host body for quite a while before the host shows any signs of infection/infestation.
   

By any chance did the doctor tell you what type of parasites he/she found in your son? That may help you to narrow down your list of ways in which your son became infected.

Moral of the story?

Sometimes a preliminary round of testing (this time unfortunately on a young boy) results in a need for more testing (this time on the water and possibly other things) before a solution becomes available. With that said, if after a round of testing you still have unanswered questions, keep testing until you find thee answers you need.

Your health and the health of those around you may depend on the answers you eventually find and solutions you implement as a result of those answers!

Most times our readers want to know about specific water testing solutions or seek information about filtering out a specific drinking water contaminant… and then other times people ask us very, very, VERY general questions.

As an example of the latter, Omoosh3000 wrote in and asked, “i want to ask all analysis if i can for potable water”.

We really think, Omoosh, that you should take a look at the EPA’s Safe Water Web Site since it contains everything from basic information the average homeowner can easily use to more technical information that water treatment plant operators can use if they need to look up Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL’s) or have questions about the latest additions to the Primary & Secondary Drinking Water Standards.

“All analysis possible”…

Sounds like pretty tall order if you ask us so in lieu of testing for every possible water contaminant (a nearly impossible task!) we suggest that you use one of the following laboratory testing services to test for the contaminants usually found in drinking water samples:

• Drinking Water Heavy Metal Testing Kit – 17 Panel Water Analysis Test
• Premium Drinking Water Testing Kit – 19 Panel Full Water Analysis Test
• WaterCheck Laboratory Test Kit for 83 Possible Drinking Water Contaminants

• WaterCheck Laboratory Test Kit with Pesticides for 97 Possible Drinking Water Contaminants

Researchers at the University of Utah devised a new on-the-spot testing method for water quality and recently the technology found its way into the hands of astronauts stationed on the International Space Station.

The new test, which only takes about two minutes to complete, is reportedly able to identify perils associated with poorly treated water, though the chances of some reaching the ISS are extremely small. The new technique developed at the UU has just begun a six-month trial period aboard the ISS. “Now they bring water back on the space shuttle and analyze it on the ground. The problem is there is a big delay. You’d like to be able to maintain iodine or silver [disinfectant] levels in real time with an onboard monitor,” UU Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Marc Porter explains.

According to its developers, the new method is simple, effective and cheap. Water is sampled from the galley aboard the ISS, and then forced by a syringe to pass through a chemically imbued disk. The membrane modifies its color depending on the chemicals inside the water. The differences between the original hues and the new ones can be read with a commercially available color sensor, such as the one regularly used to assess the brightness and glossiness of car paint.

“Our focus was to develop a small, simple, low-cost testing system that uses a handheld device, doesn’t consume materials or generate waste, takes minimal astronaut time, is safe and works in microgravity,” Porter adds. Another bright side of the new technique is that it is currently being adapted for use back on Earth as well, where it could detect dangerous arsenic concentrations in drinking water. This type of tests could come in handy in places such as the US and Bangladesh, where the arsenic concentration is something to be reckoned with. ( source )

As the article stated, the odds of contaminated water ever reaching the space station in the first place are slim to none, but picture, if you will, a person floating around in near-zero gravity either throwing up all over the place or trying desperately to hold in explosive diarrhea… and you will quickly understand the importance of clean drinking water in space.

“So how does this help ME keep my drinking water clean and pure?”

At this time it does not, but the following items can help you monitor bacteria, lead, arsenic, chromium and other critical water parameters right here on Earth:

Free Chlorine Water Test	Bacteria Check Test Kit	LEADQuick for Paint Home Test Kit
Mercury Check Water Test Kit	Total Hardness Test Kit	Water Metals Test Kit
Water Quality Test Kit	Well Drillers Master Test Kit	Well Drillers Standard Test Kit
	Manganese Check Water Test Kit

The title of this blog probably caught you attention because now you want to know what cities have tested, what cities found in their water, and what cities have not reported what they found in their water.

Here’s the list of metropolitan areas, with the number of pharmaceuticals detected and some examples of specific drugs that were found, or where tests were negative, not conducted or awaiting results:

Albuquerque, N.M.: tests negative Arlington, Texas: 1 (unspecified pharmaceutical) Atlanta: 3 (acetaminophen, caffeine and cotinine) Austin, Texas: tests negative Baltimore: no testing Birmingham, Ala.: no testing Boston: no testing Charlotte, N.C.: no testing Chicago: no testing Cincinnati: 1 (caffeine) Cleveland: no testing Colorado Springs, Colo.: no testing Columbus, Ohio: 5 (azithromycin, roxithromycin, tylosin, virginiamycin and caffeine) Concord, Calif.: 2 (meprobamate and sulfamethoxazole) Dallas: results pending Denver: (unspecified antibiotics) Detroit: (unspecified drugs) El Paso, Texas: no testing Fairfax, Va.: no testing Fort Worth, Texas: no testing Fresno, Calif.: no testing

Honolulu: no testing Houston: no testing Indianapolis: 1 (caffeine) Jacksonville, Fla.: no testing Kansas City, Mo.: no testing Las Vegas: 3 (carbamazepine, meprobamate and phenytoin) Long Beach, Calif.: 2 (meprobamate and phenytoin) Los Angeles: 2 (meprobamate and phenytoin) Louisville, Ky.: 3 (caffeine, carbamazepine and phenytoin) Memphis, Tenn.: no testing Mesa, Ariz.: no testing Miami: no testing Milwaukee: 1 (cotinine) Minneapolis: 1 (caffeine) Nashville, Tenn.: no testing New Orleans: 3 (clofibric acid, estrone and naproxen) New York City: no testing Northern New Jersey: 7 (caffeine, carbamazepine, codeine, cotinine, dehydronifedipine, diphenhydramine and sulfathiazole) Oakland, Calif.: no testing Oklahoma City: no testing Omaha, Neb.: no testing

Orlando, Fla.: no testing Philadelphia: 56 (including amoxicillin, azithromycin, carbamazepine, diclofenac, prednisone and tetracycline) Phoenix: no testing Portland, Ore.: 4 (acetaminophen, caffeine, ibuprofen and sulfamethoxazole) Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, Md.: no testing Riverside County, Calif.: 2 (meprobamate and phenytoin) Sacramento, Calif.: no testing San Antonio: no testing San Diego: 3 (ibuprofen, meprobamate and phenytoin) San Francisco: 1 (estradiol) San Jose, Calif.: no testing Santa Clara, Calif.: no testing Seattle: no testing Southern California: 2 (meprobamate and phenytoin) Suffolk County, N.Y.: no testing Tucson, Ariz.: 3 (carbamazepine, dehydronifedipine and sulfamethoxazole) Tulsa, Okla.: no testing Virginia Beach, Va.: tests negative Washington, D.C.: 6 (carbamazepine, caffeine, ibuprofen, monensin, naproxen and sulfamethoxazole) Wichita, Kan.: no testing.

About the study:

At least one pharmaceutical was detected in tests of treated drinking water supplies for 24 major metropolitan areas, according to an Associated Press survey of 62 major water providers and data obtained from independent researchers.

Only 28 tested drinking water. Three of those said results were negative; Dallas says tests were conducted but results are not yet available. Thirty-four locations said no testing was conducted.

Test protocols varied widely. Some researchers looked only for one pharmaceutical or two; others looked for many.

Some water systems said tests had been negative, but the AP found independent research showing otherwise. Both prescription and non-prescription drugs were detected.

Because coffee and tobacco are so widely used, researchers say their byproducts are good indicators of the presence of pharmaceuticals. Thus, they routinely test for, and often find, both caffeine and nicotine’s metabolite cotinine more frequently than other drugs.

Source: The Associated Press ( our source )

So naturally the question many people may have at this time sounds a lot like, “OK, well can we test for these pharmaceuticals and other things ourselves?” Sadly, we report that we do not know of any at-home test kits for complex molecules such as pharmaceuticals.

You can, however, contact an independent water testing laboratory if you have concerns about the possibility of these items existing in your drinking water.

You can get the names and contact information for State Certified Laboratories in your area by calling 1-800-426-4791 or visiting http://www.epa.gov/safewater/labs/index.html.