Filter Your Diabetes Risk Out of Tap Water

With millions of homes installing water filters on their faucets, in their refrigerators, or starting to use a portable filtered-water pitcher, it might have people wondering what the fuss is all about. Why not just turn on the tap (for free!) and get your own water without having to pay for "fancy" systems or bottled water that could very well be from someone else's tap? While the marketing machine tries to convince you that water filters are necessary, apparently science is beginning to agree with them. Researchers announced recently that small amounts of arsenic found in tap water could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and that filtration helps decrease these levels.

Type 2 diabetes is a form of diabetes that can be developed over time in late adulthood—contrary to type 1 diabetes which is usually diagnosed during childhood—when the cells in your pancreas stop allowing insulin to be absorbed or stop producing enough insulin for your body to break down sugars and transform them into energy. This process can leave a patient with high blood sugar and a greater risk for weight gain and early heart disease.

Arsenic, more popularly known as a rat poison, is found naturally in rocks and soil and makes its way down into our water supply when minerals dissolve. Large levels of inorganic arsenic also known as arsenic poisoning, can lead to brain disturbances, severe abdominal pain, multiple organ failure and can be fatal if left untreated. Many studies have been done regarding high levels of arsenic contamination that have found an elevated risk for many types of cancers, other diseases-including diabetes-and ailments such as skin lesions were reported.

In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, researched random participants from a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003-2004. Approximately 788 adult urine samples from the U.S. were examined for inorganic arsenic concentration. The lead author, Ana Navas-Acien, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of the Bloomberg School says, "Our findings suggest that low levels of exposure to inorganic arsenic may play a role in diabetes," and while this helps to gain insight on the importance of the level of arsenic within the body, the studies are far from complete. Navas-Acien goes on to say, "...prospective studies are needed to establish whether this association is causal."

Of the 788 participants, those with type 2 diabetes had 26 percent more arsenic in their urine than non-diabetic participants but the scientists have yet to determine if the arsenic isn't being filtered out of the body because of the disease or if it is a main risk factor triggering the disease.

The report takes into consideration the regional content of inorganic arsenic throughout the United States. About 13 million people live in areas of the continent where arsenic content in the water may exceed the standards approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The areas primarily affected are the Northeast, Midwest, and Western regions of the country.

It is estimated that as many as 57 million people around the world could be drinking water contaminated with arsenic proportions exceeding the safety levels. Although previous studies were done proving the effects of arsenic contamination to increase the risk of diabetes, this is the first study involving smaller, approved amounts of arsenic commonly found in US tap water.

"Since we already have a safety standard for arsenic levels in drinking water and we know drinking water is the main source of exposure, it's important to reduce arsenic levels in drinking water where it exists,'' continues Navas-Acien, "It seems there is may be no safe level of arsenic." Researchers urge consumers to limit their consumption of pure tap water and to rely on filters until more standards are put in place to test the arsenic levels and their effects.