Too much lead is always a cause for concern, and scientists are still learning about how lead interacts with other substances. Take aluminum and phosphate. Phosphate is sometimes added to water because it inhibits corrosion of lead pipes, reducing the amount of lead released into water.
But new research suggests that aluminum might make it harder for phosphate to do that. Aluminum is also sometimes part of the water treatment process, and it builds up in scale in the lead pipes.
A group of scientists did an experiment where they put lead strips in jars of water. They also added aluminum to one jar, phosphate to another, and both aluminum and phosphate to a third. In the jar with just aluminum added, the concentration of lead dissolved in the water was 100 micrograms per liter, the same as it would have been with the lead strip alone.
In the jar with just phosphate added, the concentration of lead in the water went down to less than 1 microgram per liter. But in the jar with both aluminum and phosphate, the lead concentration was about 10 micrograms per liter. That's still below drinking water standards, but obviously not as good as that less than 1 microgram per liter concentration.
Reviewer: Marc A. Edwards, Virgina Tech
D: I’m getting some water. Want some, Yaël?
Y: No thanks, Don. I bring my own from home since I have a lead filter.
D: Should that be something I’m worried about?
Y: Well, too much lead is always a cause for concern, and scientists are still learning about how lead interacts with other substances. Take aluminum and phosphate. Phosphate is sometimes added to water because it inhibits corrosion of lead pipes, reducing the amount of lead released into water. But new research suggests that aluminum might make it harder for phosphate to do that. Aluminum is also sometimes part of the water treatment process, and it builds up in scale in the lead pipes. A group of scientists did an experiment where they put lead strips in jars of water. They also added aluminum to one jar, phosphate to another, and both aluminum and phosphate to a third. In the jar with just aluminum added, the concentration of lead dissolved in the water was 100 micrograms per liter, the same as it would have been with the lead strip alone. In the jar with just phosphate added, the concentration of lead in the water went down to less than 1 microgram per liter. But in the jar with both aluminum and phosphate, the lead concentration was about 10 micrograms per liter. That’s still below drinking water standards, but obviously not as good as that less than 1 microgram per liter concentration.
D: Less than 1 microgram per liter would definitely be my preference.
Y: Want some of my water instead?
D: Sure. And maybe information about that filter of yours, if you don’t mind.
