Naturally big business and industry giants claim the ‘link’ between environmental pollutants and increased numbers of children getting diagnosed with Autism fails to hold water, but no matter what, two facts remain: 1) Our environment continues to get polluted by a seemingly endless number of hazardous and not-‘yet’-defined-as-hazardous, chemicals and compounds; 2) More and more kids keep getting diagnosed with Autism and similar conditions each year.

Whether a link truly exists between those two facts or not, we see two problems that either need to get solved together or solved separately. Either way they need to get SOLVED.

As the title of this article suggested, we recently ran across a list of ten chemicals highly suspected as possible causes of Autism and other learning or developmental disabilities. The list comes from an article on the Prevention.Com web site.

• Lead
• Methylmercury
• PCBs
• Organophosphate pesticides
• Organochlorine pesticides
• Endocrine disruptors
• Automotive exhaust
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• Brominated flame retardants
• Perfluorinated compounds

Moral of the story?

As a society we have already dumped way too many compounds and chemicals into the environment without fully understanding the impact that most of them by themselves will have on future generations… let alone the impact that they ALL will have when combined in our food and water supplies.

Do the chemicals in the list above cause Autism? Some say, “Yes!” and others say, “No!” We say get the chemicals out of the water supply (be it ground water OR tap water, by the way!) and see what happens.

One way or the other SOMEthing will have to improve, right?

To a certain extent the human body CAN and DOES flush out most things (like metals) that it does not require or want to keep. BUT we must keep in mind that although the human body does function (usually) like a well-oiled processing machine, it does not always function perfectly and sometimes traces get ‘stuck’ in the system.

Those stuck ‘traces of metals’ in the system may become a health hazard over time as their quantities increase with the body’s prolonged exposure to more metals.

Additionally, in the case of heavy metals like mercury, for example, scientists have determined that some metals form bonds with organic materials within the body and get absorbed into the body. Those compounds will not leave on their own and overtime may cause a problem as their concentrations in the body increase.

Heavy metals and the food chain?

Our planet has a hierarchical food chain. Everyone knows that. But, did you know that cases of ‘mild contamination’ by heavy metals or other potential toxins at one level of the food chain may have innumerable effects on all levels above it in the food chain?

Example: Fish in a river or lake become contaminated with mercury. We eat the fish. We become home to the mercury in the fish.

Easy to test for metals in water?

In some cases like mercury, arsenic, copper, iron, manganese, chromium, lead, and select others, simple at-home water test strips and water test kits exist.

Other metals, however, can only get detected using sophisticated laboratory equipment and techniques.

“Can any amount of copper in pool water color your hair and skin green? If so is there an antidote for this? Thanks—-Gary.”

The simple answer

Yes, the copper in pool water does play a part in the creation of a greenish tint in a person’s hair. We do not know about the greenish tint to skin, though.

The more complex answer

Slight concentrations of copper in pool water may play a part in the formation of a green tint in a person’s hair, yes, but most of the blame should get aimed at the pool water’s chlorine concentration.

The chlorine oxidizes copper (and other metals) which then become attached to various exposed proteins in human hair. Once attached, oxidized copper has the opportunity to impart its greenish color directly into the hair’s root.

Low copper concentrations in water lacking oxidizers like chlorine, or containing extremely low concentrations of chlorine or bromine, typically will not affect a person’s hair color — hence many of the ‘safe for hair’ claims made by alternate sanitizer systems that use biguanides or ionized minerals (with very, very low chlorine levels).

Source(s) of copper in pool water?

Typically a concentration of copper in pool water results from one of three sources:

1. Source water used to fill the pool — Copper occurs naturally in many well water sources and so it stands to reason that if you fill your pool with well water, you may want to test for minerals (like copper) before adding chlorine.

   Those of you using municipal (i.e. city water, hydrants — with help of fire department, of course!) water sources should also test for the presence of dissolved metals in the pool water before adding chlorine. Why? Because most municipalities use metal service lines to get water to your home and as water passes through those lines it sometimes picks up little bits of the metals it comes in contact with.

2. Chemicals used to kill/prevent algae — Most people refer to chemicals that help to prevent and/or kill algae as algaecides (also spelled algicides apparently)… a good number of the ones commonly sold online and in pool stores these days contain traces of copper that could cause a problem if used too frequently or if used in larger than suggested amounts.

   When used according to direction, most algaecides that contain copper will not impart enough copper in the water to cause a problem since ‘splash out’ (water splashed out of the pool during use) removes copper slowly and subsequent refilling of the pool with fresh water dilutes the copper levels.

3. Pool equipment — And finally, swimming pool and hot tub heaters will normally contain copper heating elements that will, over time, add trace amounts of copper to the water they heat. This process accelerates greatly when the pool or spa water pH balance gets low and the water becomes acidic. Water with a lower pH tends to have corrosive tendencies.

So now that you know what happens to make hair turn green, naturally, as Gary did, you will want to know ways to possibly prevent it from happening, right?

• Healthy, properly conditioned hair stands a better chance of resisting the coloring effects of oxidized metals. Some experts have suggested shampooing and conditioning one’s hair prior to going swimming.
   
• Most people already know that it makes a lot of sense to wash one’s body and hair thoroughly right after getting out of the pool. Doing so reduces the amount of time the pool water’s disinfectants — and other sometimes not-so-healthy components — have to affect skin and hair.
   
• ‘Damaged’ hair makes for an easy target. Split ends, dyed hair, bleached hair, and otherwise unhealthy hair makes an excellent receptor for unintended hair dyes like oxidized metals.
   
• Limiting the amount of time that one spends with soaked hair may also help. Rather than allowing the warm sun to dry your hair you may want to dry it as best you can with a towel when you get out of the pool.

In most cases a person probably ought not have too many problems with hair turning colors as long as the water they swim in contains a proper water quality balance and their hair does not have pre-existing conditions that would make it more susceptible to attack by oxidized metals.

One will not KNOW, however, if the water in a pool ‘too much of this or too little of that’ unless… they test the water.

The following products should make testing source water as well as actual pool water for dissolved metals a quick and painless process:

• Heavy Metals Check — Great way of determining if water contains any dissolved metals at all. Will not tell what metals it detects, if it detects any, but it will alert you to the presence of dissolved metals at concentrations as low as 10ppb (parts per billion). Perfect for testing source water.
   
• John’s Copper Test — Detects ONLY copper in a water sample. Low detection limit of 0.5ppm (parts per million) and an ideal, easy method for testing source water.
   
• Total Iron Visual Test — Fast, accurate method for determining total iron concentrations in a water sample.Low detection limit of 0.3ppm (parts per million).
   
• Pool Check Copper — Designed to test for dissolved copper levels down to 0.2ppm (parts per million) as well as a water sample’s pH and total alkalinity. Great tool to have in anyone’s pool maintenance kit who has a heater on their pool, uses algaecides that contain copper, or suspects their pool’s source water may contain copper.

Got more questions about dissolved metals in pool water or drinking water? Feel free to drop us a line using our online Contact Us Form.

Below you will find excerpts from an article published last week about high levels of lead found in public fountains and sinks:

Even as universities across the country are banning bottled water, alarms are going off about the safety of the water coming out of drinking fountains at some Canadian campuses.

Concerns over water quality at school drinking fountains are not new. A US investigation in 2009 turned up lead-contaminated drinking water at schools in every American state. Some of the lead came from the school’s own well or local water supplies, while lead-soldered pipes were identified as culprits in other cases. In Canada, one study found that 27 per cent of “first draw” samples taken in Ontario schools had high levels of lead, and 9 per cent still had high levels even after the system was flushed. source

We included that last paragraph so that no one would say, “Oh, well see? It’s just a Canadian problem. We’re safe here in the United States…” And yes, we get emails from people all the time saying silly stuff like that.

Why has lead in drinking fountains gone unnoticed for so long?

Honestly, we do no know. We’d guess that many people just assumed removal of older, lead-baring piping inside and hooked up to drinking water fountains would take place when all of the other piping in buildings got replaced, and as you can see they must have guessed incorrectly.

“Recently, the Albany City School District voluntarily decided to test the water in all of their school buildings. In at least six school buildings, 32 faucets came back with high, unsafe levels of lead in the water. While one would think this problem would only affect older buildings, some of the affected faucets were in buildings that had been renovated.” source

How do we test for lead in drinking fountains?

While qualified laboratories use sophisticated testing equipment that may cost thousands of dollars, the average person (like you and me) can acquire simple, easy-to-use and highly affordable lead in water test kits.

One kit in particular, the Watersafe Drinking Fountain Detective Kit (WS-207T), includes supplies for testing (12) twelve water samples, comes with a data tracking sheet to record results, provides results in just ten minutes, requires no special training or testing skills, and contains an interactive CD designed to help create a presentation template for the testing data.

What about other metals? Can we test for those, as well?

Absolutely! While more complicated test kits do exist, the average person (like you and me) can use simple, dip-n-read test strips for metals in water such as the SenSafe Water Metals Test Kit to perform on-the-spot testing. Products like this detect heavy metals such as lead, copper, iron, chromium, nickel, cadmium, etc. and alert users to the presence of metals — down to levels as low as 10 parts per billion!

Note: Although Sensafe Water Metals Check does have the ability to detect really low amounts of metals in water, it does not have the ability to tell user which metal or metals it has detected.

You will have to answer that question for yourself, and while you ponder that query, please also take a moment to think about the possibility that any number of manufacturing errors could possibly result in the improper distribution of lead in brass fittings — as alleged by researchers investigating alarmingly high levels of lead found in water produced by water fountains after technicians took several steps to make them lead-free.

Hidden elements in drinking-water lines can shed large amounts of lead, a toxic heavy metal. And it’s quite legal, even if it does skirt the intent of federal regulations.

University researchers, who uncovered this problem the hard way, have published a case study on the offending hardware in the November issue of the journal of the American Water Works Association.

Lead adds ductility to brass, making it easier to bend or machine into desired shapes. To limit the risk of lead poisoning, U.S. law prohibits new brass plumbing parts in drinking water lines from containing more than 8 percent lead by weight. Yet two shut-off valves containing only about 6.5 percent lead leached toxic amounts of the metal into drinking fountains at the University of North Carolina.

What happened: During manufacturing, the lead did not uniformly distribute throughout the brass, but ended up preferentially settling at or near the surface. As a result, the outside of affected valves—the side visible when looking at a water line (see photo)—slightly exceeded the lead limit. That shouldn’t have posed a health problem, since this surface doesn’t touch water. However, the valves’ interior surface, which does, contained at least 18 percent lead by weight. ( source )

After reading that, and seeing how careful steps taken by knowledgeable people failed to get rid of all the lead in the plumbing of water fountains on a college campus, would you still think us alarmists by giving the topic a few minutes of publicity?

What levels of lead in water pose a danger?

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has ruled that public water systems may not contain more than 15 ppb of dissolved lead and that any system found to have that amount or greater in the water it distributes must take immediate steps to remedy the situation.

While that sounds like a great plan, the fact remains that pretty much all lead found coming out of faucets in people’s homes entered the water at some point after the water left the water treatment facility. Old water service lines, fittings in people’s homes, and older solder used to join pipes all could contribute lead (and other metals) to the water they come in contact with — especially if the water has aggressive tendencies.

Aggressive tendencies? Water can have a bad attitude and start fights? Well, no, but throwing water on someone in a bar or dance club will put them in a bad mood and possibly start a fight.

When we say water has aggressive tendencies, we mean it has low total hardness and/or a low pH; both of which would make the water want to pull elements (metals and other things) out of any surfaces it comes in contact with.

And in conclusion…

Enough evidence exists out there pointing to the fact that dissolved metals in water have a probability of causing health problems that we do not know WHY anyone would not want to test their drinking water (note: tap water and well water can both can contain dangerous concentrations of dissolved metals) for the presence of metals periodically.

A naturally occurring reddish metal that appears in rock, water, soil, sediment and in the air, copper has unique physical properties which make it perhaps one of the most commonly used and important metals. You can find copper in pennies, as part of electrical wiring systems, and in plumbing. You can also find it used in some pesticides and algaecides.

As humans we require a minute amount of copper to live, but as with anything, too much copper in a short period of time and prolonged exposure to excess copper can have detrimental effects on our health.

For that reason health officials suggest testing your drinking water for copper, and other things obviously, on a semi-regular basis… especially if you live in an older home, in an area that has older water delivery lines, or if you have well water.

How can you test for copper?

Previously you would have to use a test kit that used drops, tablets, powders, etc. or have your water tested by a water testing laboratory. As usual we suggest that people use water testing labs if they have serious reason to suspect drinking water contamination and that owners of wells have their water tested by a certified water testing lab at least once a year, for occasional testing needs you can use copper test strips such as the John’s Copper product manufactured by SenSafe.

If you think you may have a need to test your water for copper, then you may also want to test for other metals such as iron, manganese, mercury, and lead.

A test kit such as the Well Driller Master Test Kit has all those tests and more.

T_RadioMan in Clifton Park, NY asked…

Why do I always get staining in my sinks? Is my well water polluted? Is it dangerous?

Slow down, killer. Slow down. One question about the quality of your water at a time, OK? 😉

Staining… of fixtures often happens when water contains dissolved metals. Have you tested your water for metals?

• Iron in Water — may leave brown, yellow and/or orange stains in sinks and on fixtures
• Manganese in Water — may leave dark brown, black or deep purple stains in sinks and on fixtures

• Copper in Water — may leave blue, green or dark stains in sinks and on fixtures

Polluted… drinking water may not ever show any signs of contamination. Only testing the water will tell you if your water contains dangerous contaminants and if you know nothing about the quality of the water, it definitely makes sense to opt for a thorough water quality analysis conducted by a qualified laboratory such as National Testing Laboratories or a local laboratory w/ similar qualifications.

National Testing Laboratories offers three levels of certified drinking water testing and their customers get test results within two weeks.

• WaterTest Basic tests for 27 water quality parameters
• WaterCheck test for 83 water quality parameters

• WaterCheck w/ Pesticides tests for 97 water quality parameters

Dangerous… water also may not show any obvious signs of it malignant nature so having testing performed by a qualified laboratory to find out if the water contains harmful contaminants or a dangerously low/high pH makes sense if you know nothing about the water and have ‘problems’ with it such as skin irritation, staining of fixtures, foul odor, nasty taste, or unexplainable recurring gastrointestinal troubles.

To conclude, T_RadioMan, you really won’t ever know the cause of your water woes until you get that water of yours checked out by a certified water testing laboratory.

A few residents have experienced lead in their drinking water in recent weeks, prompting discussion of Belleville’s aging infrastructure and a warning to people about how to protect their health.

Township Manager Victor Canning said that “a couple of samples” of tap water tested positive for lead, and by law the township had to send notices to those residents. He said there is a bigger picture problem.

“This is something that has to be addressed in areas with older infrastructure,” Canning said.

For now, he has this advice: “People should let the water run for a couple of minutes to remove any lead or copper issues.”

The substances come from old underground water pipes that need replacing, an expensive proposition, he said.

“We are trying to address this, spending a couple of hundred thousand [dollars], but we’re talking millions and millions to fix it all,” Canning said. ( source )

As stated in the article, tearing up and replacing older copper water lines joined together with solder that contains lead costs a pretty penny and a lot of towns like Belleville simply cannot come up with the money. Therefore residents in these towns owe it to themselves to test their drinking water for dangerous heavy metals such as copper and lead on a regular basis.

Water insoluble chromium(III) compounds and chromium metal are not considered a health hazard, while the toxicity and carcinogenic properties of chromium(VI) are known for a long time. An actual investigation into hexavalent chromium release into drinking water was used as the plot-basis of the motion picture Erin Brockovich.

…

The proposed beneficial effects of chromium(III) and the use as dietary supplements yielded some controversial results, but recent reviews suggest that moderate uptake of chromium(III) through dietary supplements poses no risk.

World Health Organization recommended maximum allowable concentration in drinking water for chromium (VI) is 0.05 milligrams per liter. Hexavalent chromium is also one of the substances whose use is restricted by the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive.

…

The acute toxicity of chromium(VI) is due to its strong oxidational properties. After it reaches the blood stream, it damages the kidneys, the liver and blood cells through oxidation reactions. Hemolysis, renal and liver failure are the results of these damages. ( source )

Despite the fact that some governments around the world try to keep an eye on industry’s use and disposal of chromium products one cannot dismiss the notion that chromium in drinking water could still cause harm in their life — especially if the water comes from a private well.

As chromium compounds were used in dyes and paints and the tanning of leather, these compounds are often found in soil and groundwater at abandoned industrial sites, now needing environmental cleanup and remediation per the treatment of brownfield land. Primer paint containing hexavalent chromium is still widely used for aerospace and automobile refinishing applications. ( source )

Testing for Specific Metals in Drinking Water

For those wishing to test for specific metals in their drinking water, please use the links below to locate information about ion-specific metals in water test kits:

Testing for Arsenic in Water

Testing for Chromium in Water

Testing for Copper in Water

Testing for Iron in Water

Testing for Lead in Water

Testing for Manganese in Water

Testing for Mercury in Water

Unless filtered or otherwise purified, most water contains at the very least SOME dissolved minerals and those levels will depend on where the water came from and/or passed through on its way to your pool. As an example, most well water contains dissolved minerals so that means if you fill your pool/spa with well water, your pool/spa water will contain dissolved minerals, too.

You can test for dissolved metals in well water with Water Metals Check, an easy-to-use test for metals in water with a low detection level of 10 ppb (parts per billion).

Earlier we mentioned that some algaecides contain small amounts of copper in them which serves as an algistat, or algae growth inhibitor. Under the right conditions copper introduced by copper based algaecides will remain suspended (in solution) and you will not know they exist unless you test for them with a copper in water test kit.

Metal fixtures (such as ladders) and swimming pool heaters in and around the pool get continuous exposure to sometimes very harsh conditions such as high or low pH and/or extremely high chlorine (or other oxidizer) levels which cause corrosion of the metal surfaces and allow metal ions to enter the water. These ions can create interesting color patterns in water and difficult to remove stains when they fall out of solution and land on the bottom of the pool or other surface.

Many times, though, copper discoloration and staining comes from the heat exchanger in a pool heater. As water passes over its multi-tubed, copper finned heat exchanger at a rate faster than the exchanger can handle or in a corrosive form due to high/low pH levels and/or unusually high oxidizer levels, ions of copper come off metal surfaces and enter the water.

Another (obvious) problem presents itself when copper heat exchangers start to erode away: Their walls get thinner and thinner and eventually holes develop. Replacing heat exchangers can cost a LOT of money.

So therefore, if copper stains and high pool/spa heater repair bills don’t strike your fancy, keep a close watch on the pH, sanitizer levels and from time-to-time copper levels to make sure nothing has started to eat away at your heat exchanger.

And finally, some sanitizer systems, such as the Pool Frog Mineral Purifier System, actually USE ionized copper as part of their chemical system as well as ionized copper. Copper ions serve as an algistat and silver ions serve as a bactericide.

Manufacturers of mineral-based sanitizer systems strongly suggest testing pool water regularly for critical water parameters such as pH, alkalinity, sanitizer level, etc. so that the minerals do not ‘drop out of solution’ and cause staining.

Test strips such as Pool Check Copper 3 in 1 make routine pool testing quick, simple and safe.