151–160 of 208 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
After some googling, I concluded that filters in good-tap-water neighborhoods do more harm than good -- they filter out nutrients that we do need from water.
What nutrients does tap water have in it? Fluoride?
https://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/acanthamoeba-keratit...
I don't get the scare mongering in this discussion. People are saying to always boil the water, to not cook with hot tap water, etc. Don't these people bathe in hot tap water? Don't they drink cold tap water? Do they all live in areas with super unsafe tap water? Or is there a specific danger that comes from the water going up your nostrils? (Which can easily happen while bathing) What am I missing here?
There is a specific danger associated with the water going up your nose. Things that go up your nose have better access to the blood brain barrier. Don't snort unboiled water kids.
Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.
I also wonder if she applied salt to the water (you should use saline) which also may help keep this stuff away if the concentration is right. But I don't know about that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't that pretty dependent on where you live? If you are in a newer house I doubt it would be an issue, since you have a personal water heater that gets cycled through pretty regularly.
If the water heater uses copper pipes, the copper still gets into the water. And even with plastic pipes the trace amount of plastic may still end in the water and nobody knows if drinking such water for, say, 40 years is safe. So do not use hot water for cooking/drinking.
I'm stunned at how many people are commenting that they will continue using untreated water. You can end up having your brain eaten and die, I can't think of a PSA any more convincing.
There's been ~100 cases in 40 years. That's less than 3 people per year, so it's very rare. There's about 10 shark attacks per year in the U.S. Now that you know that, will you stay out of the ocean forever? Or will you maybe take the risk and go for a dip if you go on a beach vacation? edit Plus, of those 40 cases the vast majority are from swimming in lakes. So there's only a handful of cases where the infection wa…
Crossing the street once is more dangerous.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a specific danger associated with the water going up your nose. Things that go up your nose have better access to the blood brain barrier. Don't snort unboiled water kids.
Source? 'access to the blood brain barrier' sounds odd. You make it sound like the BBB magically starts in the nostrils and is somehow weak there. That's not how the BBB works. Sure, your nostrils are closer to your brain than, say, your teeth, but not by much.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You certainly also can get amoeba infections from swimming. https://www.allaboutvision.com/contacts/acanthamoeba-keratit... If you're a contact lens wearer, you should be careful using them while swimming or rinsing them with tap water. A hydrogen peroxide cleaner like Clear Care will help kill amoebas.
I can't find it now, but there was a news story recently where a contact lens wearer contracted something from tap water because she did not dry her hands troughly after washing them and handling the lenses.
Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.
Since these types of incidents are so rare I would not suddenly be afraid of using such a device. I also wonder if she applied salt to the water (you should use saline) which also may help keep this stuff away if the concentration is right. But I don't know about that.
I’d highly doubt many people would do that regularly.