The Water Quality Association :
News and Events :
Hot News & Updates :
Hardness in drinking water should not be deemed a health benefit :
WHO releases long-awaited calcium/magnesium report
Posted 1/8/2007
WHO releases long-awaited calcium/magnesium report
After a lengthy review period, the World Health Organization (WHO) released their report on calcium and magnesium in drinking water in late November 2006.
While the report does recommend changes for the point-of-use (POU)/point-of-entry (POE) industry, recommendations have been significantly scaled back from what was discussed during an April 2006 symposium on the issue.
This can be seen as a victory of sorts for the POU/POE industry, which had opposed a WHO recommendation that calcium and magnesium were specifically beneficial in drinking water, and that the elements must be added back into drinking water after treatment. Because POU/POE products are made to remove total dissolved solids, a bypass or remineralization feeder or filter would be needed to reinsert the minerals.
Instead, WHO suggests providers merely inform their customers about the mineral content of their treated water, and stops short of actually recommending the bypass or remineralization, although they say these "may" be provided by manufacturers of point-of-use/point-of-entry devices. According to the report:
"Users of [POU/POE] devices should be made aware of the changes in mineral composition that arise and the possible consequences for total nutrient intake and human health. For example, those who sell or install these devices may be encouraged to bring to the attention of the users of these devices the possibility of reduced mineral intake and alternative means for replacement.
The manufacturers of these devices may provide a suitable bypass for a portion of this water to maintain some level of these minerals in the water actually consumed (e.g. to a kitchen tap) or develop and add an appropriate remineralizing unit in the water line prior to the point of consumption."
Water Quality Association (WQA) Technical Services Consultant Regu Regunathan, PhD, and WQA Technical Director Joseph F. Harrison, PE, CWS-VI, both spoke at the April symposium. Harrison said he agrees with the WHO report's major conclusions:
- Both calcium and magnesium are essential to human health.
- Food is the principal source of both calcium and magnesium.
- Suppliers of water β including municipal, purified bottle water, and POU/POE treatment water providers β may make information on the mineral content of their water available to the consumer.
He does add, however, that it's important to note a distinction between water softened by water treatment, and soft water that is naturally occurring. "The vast majority of populations that drink water with a paucity of calcium and magnesium are those served with a naturally soft municipal water supply. Naturally soft water is characteristic of large public water systems along both the Atlantic and Pacific seacoasts in North America, and equally prevalent elsewhere in the world. The epidemiological evidence that the WHO experts used to reach their conclusions also stems from naturally soft water areas, not softened water." Harrison added, βIt would not be right to classify a bottled water that is made from purifying it with reverse osmosis as 'mineral-deficient,' and not to say the same about New York City's Catskill Mountains' water, for example.
Harrison says that WQA's recommendation when consumers are concerned about receiving sufficient levels of calcium or magnesium is that the preferred approach should be through dietary education, supplementary sources of calcium/magnesium, or fortified foods. "The evidence is strong that calcium and magnesium are essential elements for our bodies. Yes, modern diets are becoming more deficient. However, it's a weak argument to suggest that we should make up this deficiency through water consumption. Above all, you need to get your nutrition from a healthy diet. If you don't, it's ve
|
|
Water Quality Association:
|
 |
Back
|
|
Sat, Jul 31, 2010
|
|
Copyright 2010 by the Water Quality Association β All rights reserved.
Water Quality Association
International Headquarters & Laboratory
4151 Naperville Road
Lisle, IL 60532-3696
USA
630 505 0160, Fax 630 505 9637
info@wqa.org, www.wqa.org
|
|
|
This page has been viewed 2767 times
|
