General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. Schoolchildren Exposed to Arsenic in Well Water Have Lower IQ Scores
Columbia University
Mainman School of Public Health
Stephanie Berger
212-305-4372
Email sb2247@columbia.edu
April 7, 2014A study by researchers at Columbia University reports that schoolchildren from three school districts in Maine exposed to arsenic in drinking water experienced declines in child intelligence. While earlier studies conducted by the researchers in South Asia, and Bangladesh in particular, showed that exposure to arsenic in drinking water is negatively associated with child intelligence, this is the first study to examine intelligence against individual water arsenic exposures in the U.S. Findings are reported online in the journal, Environmental Health.
The research team, led by Joseph Graziano, PhD, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Universitys Mailman School of Public Health, assessed 272 children in grades 35, who were, on average, 10 years old, from three school districts in Maine where household wells are the predominant source for drinking water and cooking. The Augusta area in particular was studied because of earlier research indicating higher than normal exposures.
Using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), the most often used assessment tool for measuring intelligence in children ages 6 to 16, the researchers found that arsenic in household water was associated with decreased scores on most WISC-IV indices. After adjusting for maternal IQ and education, characteristics of the home environment, school district, and number of siblings, the children who were exposed to greater than 5 parts arsenic per billion of household well water (WAs ? 5 ?g/L) showed reductions in Full Scale, Working Memory, Perceptual Reasoning and Verbal Comprehension scores, losses of 56 points, considered a significant decline, that may translate to problems in school, according to Gail Wasserman, PhD, professor of Medical Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia, and the studys first author.
MORE
- See also:
NYT: Study Finds an Increase in Arsenic Levels in Chicken
The Arsenic in Your Chicken
Tylenol, Benadryl, Banned Antibiotics, Arsenic, Routinely Fed to Poultry
- Monsanto, Dupont and Con-Agri giveth, and Obamacare taketh away. Except in states with Republicans in-charge........
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)It's radiation love hate.
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)It's a problem. Do you ban household wells?
(NB: Groundwater frequently has higher than acceptable levels of As. It's a naturally occurring element, and, well, naturally occurs.)
DeSwiss
(27,137 posts)At least the water you drink and cook with. That's what I do now and I realize it ain't exactly cheap, especially when you consider that most of us thought we were already paying for clean water. But any household that intends to use a natural water source must take precautions given the deadly antibiotic-immune pathogens out there and the chemicals that we're inclined toward dumping into our own living spaces. Not to mention the pharmaceuticals and other unintended chemicals we consume daily from our ''safe'' drinking water supply from the city.
The Big Berkey is the one I got. It does more than just filter, it is classified as a water purification system because its standards exceeds the requirement of the EPA. There are other good quality water filtration systems out there, but the Berkey's have been at it a pretty long time and have a good rep. And I know they have superior quality equipment. There are also ''whole-house'' water filtration systems that operate under pressure, but they're definitely expensive and high-maintenance.
(I have no interest in this product nor the company beyond my experience in using their water filters).
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)It's the evil teachers unions. If only we were more committed to children, we'd get right down to solving that problem and the test scores would go up by magic.