We don’t give a second thought before pouring a glass of tap water. Because why would we…. After all, it’s treated, filtered, chlorinated, and stamped “safe for drinking” by regulatory standards, right?
And I know you are not going to believe it if I tell you that the very process that makes our water “safe” might be silently messing with our DNA.
I know it just sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it is not. Relax, just stay with me and by the end of this article, you will believe me for sure.
Stay tuned.
Read more: 7 Daily Tech Habits That Might Be Hurting Your DNA.
Key Topics:
Is The Tap Water Safe for Your DNA?
In recent years, it has been discovered that treated water, especially chlorinated tap water, contains compounds known as Disinfection By-Products (DBPs).
Disinfection in water is a vital process to reduce waterborne diseases (such as cholera and typhoid) and to supply safe drinking water to the public.
DBPs are formed when disinfectants like chlorine react with naturally occurring organic matter or contaminants in water. Things like temperature and tiny particles like ions or microbes also influence the formation of DBPs.
The stronger the disinfectant dose or the longer it stays in contact with water, the more DBPs are created.
And also, it has been observed that factors like climate change, i.e., temperature rise and increasing human population leading to higher needs for purified drinking water, have promoted DBPs’ formation at high rates.
But does it affect our health?
Evidence suggests that increased exposure to DBPs is hazardous to human health as they possess higher risks of cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity.
Long-term exposure to these DBPs is also related to frequent incidence of carcinogenic, reproductive, and developmental effects.
According to a study published in ACS Environmental Science and Technology, out of over 700 known DBPs, only a few have been properly studied for their potential to harm DNA.
In this study, researchers analyzed 20 DBPs and found that several could cause oxidative DNA damage and interfere with how cells repair that damage. Some DBPs may even disrupt genetic pathways.
Based on their chemical structure, DBPs are classified into three major categories: aliphatic, alicyclic, and aromatic compounds. Trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids are some of the common DBPs found in chlorinated water.
But this study suggests that aromatic DBPs (like halogenated phenols and furans) are often more toxic than the other types. They are highly reactive and unstable, which adds to their potential danger.
Let’s now discuss a study that connects us with actual evidence behind the water we drink and the possible damage to our DNA.
A research article published in Water Research (Elsevier) studied how compounds in our everyday drinking water, though present in low amounts, could still be silently impacting our long-term health.
Scientists compared two sampling methods to study how drinking water can be genotoxic. This study used semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) and C18 grab samples to test the effects of drinking water on damaging DNA.
Both methods were focused on replicating the real-world exposure: C18 samples were collected weekly, while SPMDs simulated long-term exposure over 30 days.
Through this study, they found that SPMDs that were designed to mimic actual prolonged human exposure resulted in significantly greater DNA damage in laboratory tests as compared to C18 samples.
This result suggests that the way we assess water safety today might not reflect what prolonged, daily exposure actually does to our cells. Further, their data could be more alarming, as even in water samples with a low level of organic compounds, toxic effects were observed.
What does this result tell us?
This means that although the compounds are present in very small quantities, the lifelong exposure that is sip by sip, day by day, can accumulate and potentially interfere with DNA, cause oxidative stress and contribute to mutagenicity.
These do not show any immediate symptoms, but over the years, this stress on DNA could result in chronic diseases and even cancer development.
Read more: How Your DNA Decides What is Best for You?
What do we have to do?
What shall we do now, stop drinking water? No, of course not, but you can follow these suggestions to ensure your health and safety:
- Invest in a good water purifier: filter your water at home by investing in a good water purifier that removes chlorine and other DBPs.
- Don’t store your water for a longer time in plastic containers, as doing this can increase the risk of DBPs, so this is a risk we can reduce.
- Try to stay updated about the local water quality; ask the municipalities for the quality report.
By following and taking care of these small steps, we can reduce the risk of genotoxicity, cytotoxicity and other health hazards.
Always remember, safe drinking water should mean safe at the cellular level, too.
Read more: Can Wi-Fi Really Damage Your DNA? Here is What Science Says.
Wrapping up:
Until now, we actually believed the “safe” tap water to be safe in reality, but science has revealed what was invisible to our own eyes. And now we know better about the toxic compounds and how they can damage our DNA and cause other health hazards.
Knowing what we are putting in our bodies is the first step toward protecting ourselves from long-term health consequences.
Stay safe.
Resources:
- Kalita, I., Kamilaris, A., Havinga, P., & Igor Reva. (2024). Assessing the Health Impact of Disinfection Byproducts in Drinking Water. ACS ES&T Water. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.3c00664.
- Ceretti, E., Moretti, M., Zerbini, I., Villarini, M., Zani, C., Monarca, S., & Feretti, D. (2016). Occurrence and control of genotoxins in drinking water: a monitoring proposal. Journal of Public Health Research, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2016.769.
- Lan, J., Rahman, S. M., Gou, N., Jiang, T., Plewa, M. J., Alshawabkeh, A., & Gu, A. Z. (2018). Genotoxicity Assessment of Drinking Water Disinfection Byproducts by DNA Damage and Repair Pathway Profiling Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 52(11), 6565–6575. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b06389.
- Buschini, A., Giordani, F., Pellacani, C., Rossi, C., & Poli, P. (2008). Cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of drinking water: A comparison between two different concentration methods. Water Research, 42(8-9), 1999–2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2007.12.005.
