A common, cat-borne parasite already associated with risk-taking behavior and mental illness in humans may also contribute to exhaustion, loss of muscle mass, and other signs of "frailty" in older adults, suggests a study ...
Nov 7, 2023
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Scientists know that coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-19 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, can remain infectious for days—or even longer—in sewage and drinking water.
Apr 3, 2020
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Anyone watching the BBC program Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof may be starting to wonder whether there really "power in the cold shower" as extreme athlete Hof claims. Hof, who set a Guinness World Record for swimming under ...
Apr 22, 2022
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(Medical Xpress)—The feared Legionella pneumophila is responsible for legionellosis, an infectious disease that can lead to pneumonia. To infect humans, this pathogen has developed a complex method that allows it to camouflage ...
May 20, 2013
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In the mid-nineteenth century, John Snow mapped cases of cholera in Soho, London, and traced the source of the outbreak to a contaminated water pump. Now, in a twenty-first century equivalent, scientists funded by the Wellcome ...
Oct 16, 2011
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A new study of domestic and hospital drinking water systems found Legionella in 41% of samples—with Flinders University researchers making a key connection between the pathogen's co-existence with a "host" microorganism ...
Jan 13, 2023
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Sterile water injections provide effective pain relief for women with labor back pain, according to University of Queensland-led research. Dr. Nigel Lee from the UQ School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work said the injections ...
Jul 6, 2020
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Composed of a single cell, amoeba seem harmless enough: They look like playful critters waltzing under the spotlight of a microscope until they come upon a group of bacteria. Then, these previously innocuous amoeba suddenly ...
Aug 2, 2019
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Children with higher concentrations of a certain chemical in their blood are more likely to get cavities, according to a new study by West Virginia University School of Dentistry researchers.
Feb 6, 2020
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Yale researchers have pinpointed a key reason why people are more likely to get sick and even die from flu during winter months: low humidity.
May 13, 2019
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Tap water (running water) is part of indoor plumbing, which became available in the late 19th century and common in the mid-20th century.
The provision of tap water requires a massive infrastructure of piping, pumps, and water purification works. The direct cost of the tap water alone, however, is a small fraction of that of bottled water, which can cost from 240 to 10,000 times as much for the same amount.
The availability of clean tap water brings major public health benefits. Usually, the same administration that provides tap water is also responsible for the removal and treatment before discharge or reclamation of wastewater.
In many areas, chemicals containing fluoride are added to the tap water in an effort to improve public dental health. This remains a controversial issue in the health, freedoms and rights of the individual. See water fluoridation controversy.
Tap water may contain various types of natural but relatively harmless contaminants such as scaling agents like calcium carbonate in hard water and metal ions such as magnesium and iron, and odoriferous gases such as hydrogen sulfide. Local geological conditions affecting groundwater are determining factors of the presence of these substances in water.
Occasionally, there are health concerns regarding the leakage of dangerous biological or chemical contaminating agents into local water supplies when people are advised by public health officials not to drink the water, and stick to bottled water instead. An example is the recent discovery of potentially hazardous nitrates in the public water supply in Phoenix, Arizona.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
