Arsenic In Your Water

Frequently used for strengthening lead and copper, arsenic is often used as a component in car batteries and electronics. Arsenic can also be found in treated wood products, herbicides, and insecticides. While arsenic can accumulate in water through erosion, it is more commonly the result of industrial or agricultural runoff.

The EPA lists skin damage, circulatory problems and an increased risk of cancer as potential effects of long-term exposure to arsenic above the federal limit of 10 parts per billion. If you have health questions, talk to your doctor.

Arsenic in drinking water has no taste, color or smell, so exposure is not something a household notices directly. According to the World Health Organization, short-term exposure to high levels can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Long-term exposure at lower levels is the greater concern, and is associated with skin changes such as thickening or discoloration, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet, cardiovascular disease, and an increased risk of several cancers including bladder, lung and skin cancer. If you have symptoms, talk to your doctor. A certified lab test is the way to find out whether arsenic is in your water.

The EPA’s enforceable limit for arsenic in drinking water is 10 parts per billion.

Public water systems test for arsenic and report detections in their annual Consumer Confidence Report. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing.

One way to reduce arsenic is a specialty filter added to a whole home water filter, so that any accompanying contaminants, like fluoride or TDS, can be reduced along with the arsenic. Culligan offers a variety of products with layers of media filtration specifically designed to treat and reduce arsenic in water.