WATER POLLUTION DISEASES

According to some estimates, every year few millions of Americans are sickened by polluted water. Water pollution involves the pollution of surface waters and/or groundwater which may cause a series of diseases referred to as water pollution diseases. These could have serious health impacts. While we can control (to some extent) the water we drink, the pollution of our water streams may have long-term effects by reducing the “drinkable” water reserves of our planet. Additionally, the common filtration methods for water are not efficient for some of the new emerging contaminants – which are many times not tested for either. Water pollution travels slower than air pollution but still may affect large areas. 

Water may commonly be polluted by two main categories of pollutants (dissolved or suspended in water):

1. Chemicals – including natural or man-made (xenobiotics) chemicals that gets into a water body (dissolved or dispersed in the water) reaching concentrations of health concern; please note that similar with the case of air pollutants, the presence of such pollutants in water is not always obvious and may not be detected by our senses. Common problematic chemicals getting into water are pesticides, chlorinated solvents, petroleum chemicals, mercury, PCBs, dioxins and other persisting organic pollutants; as well as any of the tens of thousands of chemicals used in industrial processes.
2. Living organisms (as long as they are induced by human activity; please note that some waters unaffected by human activity may still be naturally polluted with some of these organisms – in which case, the caused diseases may not be seen as pollution diseases):
   1. Pathogens – including a variety of living organisms (usually from animal waste) such as various species of viruses, bacteria, fungi and intestinal worms. Their presence in water, many times, remains unnoticed.
   2. Algae – some types of algae are toxic and may overgrow due to the presence of nitrates and phosphates in runoff water (especially agricultural runoff); such overgrowth is usually referred to as “red tide” or “brown tides”. Their toxin may affect the food chain including fish and birds, and ultimately humans. Oxygen depletion in polluted water is another serious problem responsible for killing fishes. All over the world.

While the most common water pollution diseases involve poisoning episodes affecting the digestive system and human infectious diseases, water pollution may cause a large variety of health diseases including: 

• Infectious diseases caused by pathogens (usually microorganisms) from animal fecal origins, of which the most common occur in developing countries involving:
  • Typhoid