FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2005
CONTACT: Jim Tobin
919-653-2582
Study Clarifies Relationship Between
Contact with Tap Water and Trihalomethane Exposure
Report in Environmental Health Perspectives Links Bathing,
Other Contact to Higher THM Levels than Simply Drinking
[Research Triangle Park, NC] Skin contact with and inhalation of trihalomethanes
(THMs) result in significantly higher blood and exhaled breath concentrations
than simply drinking the same tap water, according to a study published today
in the July issue of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
THMs are chemical compounds that form as the result of a reaction between chlorine
and natural organic matter in tap water. Elevated levels of THMs have been
associated with cancer and adverse reproductive outcomes.
Although the authors emphasize that public health implications should not be
inferred from their findings due in part to the small sample size of the study,
the new study could help shape future epidemiologic investigations that explore
the health effects of THMs in tap water.
In the study, seven participants in two controlled household environments in
North Carolina and Texas performed 14 common household water use activities
including ingestion of hot and cold tap water beverages, showering, washing
clothes, washing
hands, bathing, dish washing, and indirect shower steam exposure. Each testing
facility was nearly identical in layout. One household had relatively high
total THMs in tap water and the other had relatively low total THMs.
The researchers collected reference samples for the water supply, tap water,
and ambient air before any water use activities began. They also collected
samples of blood and exhaled breath before and after each activity.
Overall, the researchers found relatively high ratios of pre- to post-activity
blood and breath THM levels following several activities, particularly those
involving showering and bathing. Increased THM levels following dish washing
by hand and exposure to shower steam were also notable.
After analysis of the data, the researchers discovered differences in THM concentration
based on water temperatures. “All hot water use activities yielded a 2-fold
increase in blood or breath THM concentrations for at least one individual. The
greatest observed increase in blood and exhaled breath THM concentration in any
participant was due to showering (direct and indirect), bathing, and hand dish
washing,” they wrote.
John R. Nuckols, of the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health
Sciences at Colorado State University, was the lead author of the study. Other
authors
included David L. Ashley, Christopher Lyu, Sydney M. Gordon, Alison F. Hinckley,
and Philip Singer. Funding sources for the research as reported by the authors
included the National Center for Environmental Health (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention), the American Water Works Association Research Foundation,
and
the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Occupational
and Environmental Epidemiology Branch. The article is available free of charge
at
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/7141/abstract.html.
EHP is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. EHP is an Open Access
journal. More information is available online at http://www.ehponline.org/.
Brogan & Partners
Convergence Marketing handles marketing and public relations for EHP, and is
responsible for creation and distribution of this press release.
Editor’s note: Working media and other interested parties can register
to receive press releases via e-mail by visiting http://www.ehponline.org/press/,
calling 919-653-2582, or e-mailing ehpmedia@brogan.com.
|