How many pesticides does our drinking water contain? In the conventional treatment of drinking water, activated charcoal powder is used. A research team believes they have found a more effective solution
How many pesticides do we drink in our drinking water?
Can organic pesticides be removed from drinking water? A yes answer would be extremely reassuring since it would reduce the risk of contamination and the associated potential health problems.
The purification of drinking water
Activated coal powder (PAC) removes pesticides or other organic contaminants in conventional drinking water treatment. However, it is a costly process, which takes a long time and, above all, is not 100% effective.
According to water scientists at Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology and the University of South Australia, there is a more effective method, as explained in the research The effectiveness and feasibility of ball-milled powdered activated carbon (BPAC) for removal of organic pesticides in conventional drinking water treatment process published in “Chemosphere”.
Australian and Chinese researchers found that reducing PAC particles from the current size of 38 μm (one μm [micrometer] corresponds to a millionth of a meter) to 6 μm reduced up to -75% of coal dust to reduce six common pesticides.
At 6 μm the particles of PAC are still large enough to be filtered and prevent them from ending up in drinking water once the toxic pesticides are removed.
Why is this discovery important?
The expected increase in population over the next few decades will increase industrial development and make it necessary to increase world food production. Both scenarios will lead to increased use of chemicals.
Over the past 20 years, the global use of pesticides has grown by 62% and the fear that they may pollute water courses is not so remote; Consequently, this risk will increase over the next few decades. Therefore, it is essential to develop treatment processes that guarantee their safety.
Numerous toxicological studies agree that long-term exposure to low levels of pesticides, mainly through diet or drinking water, could increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.
The use of pesticides in agriculture
Pesticides are widely used in agriculture to increase soil productivity, and their global use continues to grow steadily.
What reflects is that only 0.1% of pesticides for pest control are targeted; Everything else is scattered on the surface of plants, on the soil and in the atmosphere and can contaminate the waters.
To protect public health, governments have set limits on pesticide residues in drinking water so that it can be considered safe.
Therefore, there are established systems of drinking water treatment, but the solution envisaged in this research seems to guarantee more effective results.
