Water-borne illness is a public health concern

Poor drinking water quality is a major problem in many parts of mainland Europe, even in the more affluent nations, researchers reported at a World Health Organisation meeting in Budapest.

According to WHO statistics, some 20 million people world-wide die each year of water-borne diseases – one million of them in Europe.

While new technologies help control and monitor water safety, they can create new hazards; in Germany, for example, studies have shown increasing amounts of drugs and other substances – such as sex hormones from contraceptives, pain killers, anti-convulsants and cholesterol lowering drugs – are present in drinking water.

New pathogens have emerged as major concerns for industrialised countries, such as Cryptosporidium, a coccidial protozoan parasite now recognised as a common cause of diarrhoea, one of the major killers in the world, according to researchers.

Chemical contaminants with cumulative toxic properties are also a concern to public health experts in Europe, such as lead from water pipes, nitrates and pesticides from agricultural and livestock operations, and natural contaminants such as arsenic and fluoride.

Source: Carl Kovac, Waterborne diseases threaten industrialised countries, British Medical Journal, November 11, 2000.

For text http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7270/1176/c

For Water issues http://www.ncpa.org/pi/enviro/envdex4.html#f