Legal levels of lead in US tap water can still cause harm

摘要

DRINKING water containing levels of lead below the threshold that warrants regulatory action in the US may be associated with worse health in people with kidney disease. "For individuals with heightened susceptibility to lead exposure, such as those with chronic kidney disease, there is no safe amount of lead contamination of drinking water," says John Danziger at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Massachusetts. He and his colleagues analysed health data on 597,968 people with chronic kidney disease in the US who started dialysis between 2005 and 2017, as well as data on lead concentrations in city water systems.