George Christine M, Smith Allan H, Kalman David A, Steinmaus Craig M
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94612, USA.
Arch Environ Occup Health. 2006 Jul-Aug;61(4):171-5. doi: 10.3200/AEOH.61.4.171-175.
Inorganic arsenic causes cancer, and millions of people worldwide are exposed to arsenic-contaminated water. Regulatory standards for arsenic levels in drinking water generally do not apply to private domestic wells. Reverse osmosis (RO) units commonly are used by well owners to reduce arsenic concentrations, but may not always be effective. In a survey of 102 homes in Nevada, 19 used RO devices. Pre- and post-RO filtration arsenic concentrations averaged 443 microg/l and 87 microg/l, respectively. The average absolute and percent reductions in arsenic concentrations after filtration were 356 microg/l and 79%, respectively. Postfiltration concentrations were higher than 10 microg/l in 10 homes and higher than 100 microg/l in 4 homes. These findings provide evidence that RO filters do not guarantee safe drinking water and, despite regulatory standards, some people continue to be exposed to very high arsenic concentrations.
无机砷可致癌，全球数以百万计的人饮用了受砷污染的水。饮用水中砷含量的监管标准通常不适用于家庭自备水井。井水所有者通常使用反渗透（RO）装置来降低砷浓度，但并不总是有效。在内华达州对102户家庭的调查中，19户使用了RO装置。RO过滤前后的砷浓度平均分别为443微克/升和87微克/升。过滤后砷浓度的平均绝对降低量和百分比分别为356微克/升和79%。10户家庭的过滤后浓度高于10微克/升，4户家庭的过滤后浓度高于100微克/升。这些发现证明，RO过滤器不能保证提供安全的饮用水，而且尽管有监管标准，一些人仍持续暴露于非常高的砷浓度之下。
