Any and all chemicals generated by human activity can and will find their way into water supplies. The types and quantities of carcinogens present in drinking water at the point of consumption will differ depending on whether they result from contamination of the source water, arise as a consequence of treatment processes, or enter as the water is conveyed to the user. Source-water contaminants...

Ingestion of arsenic, both from water supplies and medicinal preparations, is known to cause skin cancer. The evidence assessed here indicates that arsenic can also cause liver, lung, kidney, and bladder cancer and that the population cancer risks due to arsenic in U.S. water supplies may be comparable to those from environmental tobacco smoke and radon in homes. Large population studies in an ...

BACKGROUND Hypospadias is a relatively common birth defect affecting the male urinary tract. It has been suggested that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals might increase the risk of hypospadias by interrupting normal urethral development. METHODS Using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a population-based case-control study, we considered the role of maternal expos...

The possible association between the risk of lung cancer in women and the levels of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in drinking-water from municipal supplies was investigated in a matched, case-control study in Taiwan. All eligible female lung cancer deaths (3,532 cases) of Taiwan residents, from 2000 through to 2008, were compared with deaths from other causes (3,532 controls), and the levels ...

Human activities have released large amounts of toxic organic and inorganic chemicals into the environment. Toxic waste streams threaten dwindling drinking water supplies and impact terrestrial, estuarine and marine ecosystems. Cleanup is technically challenging and the costs based on traditional technologies are exceeding the economic capabilities of even the richest countries. Recent advances...

More than a billion people have limited access to safe drinking water; over 2 million die each year from water-related diarrhea, which is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in less economically developed countries (UNICEF and WHO, 2009). In more economically developed countries, increasing demands on water resources raise concerns about sustainable provision of safe drinking w...