Herbicides in Drinking water

Summary: Contaminants in drinking water are causing major health hazards. Herbicides in drinking water can lead to many dangerous health concerns, if they are not removed in water treatment process.

With the increase in pollution and release in waste water from the industries and large building into water sources, drinking water is full of harmful contaminants. It is very necessary to recycle and purify water before using it for drinking purposes so as to avoid harmful health conditions. The increasing amount of herbicides in drinking water can cause risk to public health as the monitoring of drinking water by municipal organizations does not detect the increase in levels of chemicals. People living in agricultural or rural areas have to suffer the greatest risk of herbicides in drinking water as the water from the individual wells is not tested.

Herbicides enter into the drinking water supplies by two ways basically. Due to heavy rainfall and soil irrigation, herbicides are washed off the farms and deposited into rivers and lakes. With increasing use of herbicides, the herbicides are accumulated into the soil and they move down to underground water. This run off of drinking water is mainly the source of herbicides in drinking water. The most common herbicides include Altrazine, Alachor, Metolachlor, Simazine and Cyanazine. These herbicides control weed growth but are particularly dangerous for drinking water as they cause serious health concerns.

The EPA has fixed the level of herbicides in drinking water to be below 3 parts per million in order to ensure safe health conditions. These herbicides can cause nine different types of cancer, and intake of these herbicides may result in deteriorating conditions of reproductive organs. They also cause birth defects and mutations in gene, anemia, gastro intestinal problems, cardiovascular problems, impaired function of the liver, eyes, kidney and various other reproductive complications. To avoid these contaminants get in touch with the reputed companies which provide easy to install and use water treatment solutions.