What are the ill effects of contaminants in drinking water?
Regulatory agencies, WHO (World Health Organization), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency, USA) and BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) have set standards for contaminants that may occur in drinking water and pose a risk to human health. These standards have been set to protect the health of everybody, including vulnerable groups like children and ailing people. Acute effects occur within hours or days of the time that a person consumes a contaminant. In drinking water, microbes, such as bacteria and viruses are the contaminants with the greatest chance of reaching levels high enough to cause acute health effects. Chronic effects occur after people consume a contaminant at levels over safety standards for many years. The drinking water contaminants that can have chronic effects are chemicals such as disinfection by-products (THM’s), solvents, pesticides and minerals (such as arsenic). These drinking water contaminants can result in chronic conditions like cancer, liver or kidney problems
