Home drinking water systems improve the quality of tap water, but could they also improve the quality of births here in the United States? Many people figure that as a developed and advanced nation, water quality is not a concern for families. Many people also think that the only people who are affected by drinking water contamination are the people that drink it. But for residents of the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, tainted tap water could lead to birth defects, according to the results of a long-awaited study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.
It can happen anywhere – drinking water contamination, that is. Even some of the safest Marine Corps Bases are facing this same issue according to the Associated Press and a Fox News report. Camp Lejeune has been the focus of the CDC study which was actually designed to see if there was a specific link between exposure to certain chemicals and health problems which developed later on, but the study actually shows a link between contaminated tap water and an increased risk of serious birth defects and childhood cancers.
The authors of the study on Camp Lejeune from the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry say that the information may require further research, but these scientific-based answers are the beginning of clearing up questions about drinking water quality which have been around for many years. The study did conclude that babies born to mothers who drank the Lejeune tap water while pregnant were actually four times more likely to have serious birth defects such as spina bifida or childhood cancers like leukemia than babies born to mothers off-base.
According to one statement, “The Marine Corps continues to support these initiatives and we are working diligently to identify and notify individuals who, in the past, may have been exposed to the chemicals in drinking water.” Your best bet, no matter who you are or where you live, is to install a home drinking water system which will filter tap water for harmful contaminants while still maintaining the quality and taste of drinking water from the tap.
