In the United States, regulations are in place to ensure the quality of drinking water. Such precautions are intended to safeguard the health of the population. However, regulatory guidelines may at times fail to achieve their purpose. This may be due to lack of sufficient data regarding the health hazards of chronic low dose exposure to contaminants or the introduction of new substances that pose a health hazard risk that has yet to be identified. In this review, examples of different sources of contaminants in drinking water will be discussed, followed by an evaluation of some select individual toxicants with known adverse neurological impact. The ability of mixtures to potentially cause additive, synergistic, or antagonistic neurotoxic responses will be briefly addressed. The last section of the review will provide examples of select mechanisms by which different classes of contaminants may lead to neurological impairments. The main objective of this review is to bring to light the importance of considering trace amounts of chemicals in the drinking water and potential brain abnormalities. There is continued need for toxicology studies to better understand negative consequences of trace amounts of toxins and although it is beyond the scope of this brief overview it is hoped that the review will underscore the paucity of studies focused on determining how long-term exposure to minute levels of contaminants in drinking water may pose a significant health hazard.
Water Quality and Brain Function
Published 2017 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2017
- Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publication date
2017-12-21
- Fields of study
Medicine, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- brain abnormalities
Structural or functional neurological impairments potentially associated with environmental contaminant exposure via drinking water.
Aliases: neurological abnormalities, brain impairments
- chronic low-dose exposure
Prolonged exposure to small amounts of a contaminant over time, examined here in relation to drinking water safety and neurological outcomes.
Aliases: long-term low-level exposure, trace exposure
- drinking water contaminants
Chemical and other substances found at trace or regulated levels in drinking water that may pose neurological health risks.
Aliases: water contaminants, water toxicants
- mixture toxicity
The combined toxicological effects of multiple chemicals simultaneously present in drinking water, which may interact additively, synergistically, or antagonistically.
Aliases: chemical mixture effects, neurotoxic mixture response
- neurotoxicity
Adverse effects on the structure or function of the nervous system resulting from exposure to toxic substances in drinking water.
Aliases: neurological impairment, neurotoxic effects
- us drinking water regulations
Federal and state regulatory guidelines in the United States that set allowable contaminant levels for public drinking water supplies.
Aliases: drinking water regulatory guidelines, water quality regulations
REFERENCES
CITED BY
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