Plastic drinking water pipes exposed to high heat can leak hazardous chemicals
A missive wildfire burnt through San Lorenzo Valley in August, destroying almost 1,500 structures and exposing many others to high heat. Before the fire was put out benzene levels in the water were measured at 9.1 parts per billion in residential water, which is around 9 times higher than the maximum safety level. When plastic drinking water pipes are exposed to heat high enough to melt and damage the pipes, but hot enough to destroy them, the dangerous chemicals in the plastic flow into the drinking water. Andrew Welton is an environmental engineer at Perdue University, he exposed 11 different types of pipes to 200 degrees Celsius to 400 degrees Celsius. They then put the pipes in water and found that over 100 harmful chemicals (including benzene) leached into the water from 10/11 pipes. Benzene can cause skin and throat irritation, and even leukemia in the long term.
I was always aware that there were some chemicals slipping into drinking water once in awhile, but over 100 different harmful chemicals is just insane. This whole issue could have easily been prevented by using metal or some other highly resistance substance to make the pipes instead of plastic. Most metals are highly resistance against melting and warping from heat which would save the water from all of the chemicals leaking in, which would also save all of these people from getting health problems from just trying to get a drink.
Plastic continues to prove it is a harmful substance. People are aware of the problems it creates and yet, the material is still being used. Plastic piping never did seem like a good idea due to the fact that it's not a durable substance.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary to think that the very sustenance we need to survive could be poisoned due to our own negligence in water safety. It is common place for construction companies to look for the most efficient and cheap way to finish a job. As a result, shortcuts are taken in safety protocol and plastic replaces more reliable materials such as metals. It would be in the best interests of everyone to make sure the pipes pipping your drinking water are made of metal and not plastic. Ideally some new form of legislation would be passed banning the use of plastic for drinking water pipes. That way more people could have access to safe drinking water and not have to worry about drinking yourself to death (in a non alcoholic way).
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