The occurrence of particulate lead in drinking water deserves increased scrutiny since
human exposure models, sampling protocol, analytical methods and environmental
assessments are based on the presumed dominance of soluble lead in drinking water.
Recent cases of childhood lead poisoning from drinking water were tied to solder
particles detaching into and contaminating the water supply, and the authors argue
that similar cases could be occurring elsewhere but are not being detected due to
flawed protocols. Specifically, approved sample handling procedures can "miss"
particulate lead that is present in samples, leading to situations in which the actual
lead present in drinking water was 5 times higher than was quantified using approved
protocols. The presence of chloride, warmer temperatures and lower pH of the
stomach render a large fraction of this particulate lead bioavailable when ingested.
Under some rare circumstances, this can result in high level consumer exposure to
lead in drinking water that is largely undetected. Includes 18 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 370 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 06/01/2006 |
