Significance of Trace Elements in Public, Finished Water Supplies

Abstract

This article is a digest of known facts about the health effects of certain trace elements. This water quality information is being developed from a 2‐year survey of 194 public, finished, water supply sources serving 139 municipalities. These are more than 16 per cent of the interstate‐carrier water supplies, and about 0.7 per cent of the nation's public supplies. Analyses for radiochemicals, organic chemicals, trace elements, and chemicals of routine sanitary significance are being done twice on each source. Analyses for the trace elements was done by the U.S. Public Health Service National Water Quality Laboratory, R.A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.