Association between lithium in tap water and suicide mortality rates in Miyazaki Prefecture

BACKGROUND@#Most studies have reported that suicide mortality rates are negatively associated with lithium levels in tap water; however, a few studies showed either no association or a positive association. Thus, the association between suicide mortality and lithium levels in tap water remains controversial. To clarify the association, our study evaluated the association between lithium levels in tap water and suicide mortality rates in Miyazaki Prefecture of Japan, after adjusting for confounding factors.@*METHODS@#We measured lithium levels in tap water across the 26 municipalities of Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan. We examined the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) for suicide in each municipality and used the data as the average suicide SMRs over 5 years (2009-2013). Weighted least-squares regression analysis, adjusted for the size of each municipality's population, was used to investigate the association between lithium levels in tap water and suicide SMRs. In addition to a crude model, in an adjusted model, potential confounding factors (proportion of elderly people, proportion of one-person households, annual marriage rate, annual mean income, unemployment rate, the density of medical doctors per 100,000 people, annual total rainfall, and proportion of people with a college education or higher) were added as covariates.@*RESULTS@#We showed that male and female suicide SMRs were not associated with lithium levels in tap water in Miyazaki Prefecture. After adjusting for confounders, male suicide SMRs were significantly and positively associated with the proportion of elderly people in the population and annual total rainfall, and female suicide SMRs were associated with the proportion of elderly people in the population.@*CONCLUSIONS@#No association between lithium levels in tap water and suicide mortality rates was found in Miyazaki Prefecture.

The transformation of microcystin-LR during tap water treatment process and analysis of its degradation products / 中华预防医学杂志

Objective@#To establish a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method for the determination of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) in drinking water, investigate its removal efficiency during tap water advanced treatment process and analyze its degradation products in the tap water.@*Methods@#Two parallel water samples were collected from each point of tap water advanced treatment process in September 2015, November 2015 and January 2016, respectively, and treated by mixing, filtration, concentration, elution, nitrogen blow and re-dissolvement. The samples were analyzed by LC/MS/MS to determine the MC-LR concentration and its removal efficiency during treatment process. The combination of actual water enrichment (including source water enrichment of 50 times and 1 500 times concentrated, finished water enrichment of 50 times and 2 500 times concentrated) and laboratory simulated water (including the mixture of MC-LR and liquid chlorine in the mass ratio of 1∶10, 1∶20, 1∶100 and 1∶1 000, respectively) were used to qualitative analyze the MC-LR degradation products by Orbitrap mass spectrometry.@*Results@#The linearity of MC-LR ranged from 2 to 200 μg/L with the detection limit of 0.007 9 μg/L and the limit of quantification of 0.026 3 μg/L. The recovery rate of MC-LR from different contration in drinking water were from 94.88%-101.47%. The intra-day precision was 2.51%-7.93% and the intra-day precision was 3.24%-8.41%. The average concentration of MC-LR in source water was (0.631±0.262) μg/L, 94.0% of which can be removed by ozone exposure while the concentrate was (0.038±0.016) μg/L, biological pre-treatment and chlorination. The remaining can hardly be removed by sand filtration, ozone exposure, activated carbon, ultrafiltration and other processes. The MC-LR average concentration in the finished water maintained at about (0.036±0.016) μg/L. Degradation products including hydroxy-microcystin, methyl-hydroxy-microcystin, methyl-microcystin were identified in the laboratory simulated water of the mixture of MC-LR and liquid chlorine in the mass ratio of 1∶10.@*Conclusion@#The established MC-LR detection method can be well applied to the monitoring of MC-LR in drinking water due to its simple pre-treatment process and good methodological validation parameters. The degradation products of treatment processes was different.

Preparation of Protein Hybrid Fluorescence Nanoclusters for Rapid Detection of Mercury Ion / 分析化学

One-step green synthetic approach,with bovine serum albumin(BSA) as stabilizer and reductant, was developed for preparation of BSA hybrid fluorescence gold nanoclusters (AuNCs@BSA). The prepared AuNCs@BSA exhibited strong red fluorescence under UV light illumination. Upon excited at 360 nm, the fluorescence spectrum of AuNCs@ BSA exhibited maximum emission peak at 635 nm. AuNCs@ BSA was presented as uniform spherical morphology with diameter at (2.0 ±0.05) nm. The fluorescence of AuNCs@BSA could be quenched by Hg2+because of its metallophilic reaction. Based on the fluorescent spectrometry, a rapid detection system was developed for Hg2+detection in tap water. The AuNCs@BSA amount, pH and buffer system were optimized in this study. According to optimization results, ultrapure water (pH 5.0) was selected to dilute the AuNCs@BSA by 100 times, and 50 μL/well of AuNCs@BSA dilution was applied to detect mercury ion in tap water. Under the optimized conditions, the detection could be completed within 3 min,the fluorescence intensity of the system was linearly proportional to the concentration of mercury ion in the range of 0.5–900 μg/L with linear equations y=-26.76lgx+803.1(0.5-75 μg/L,R2=0.9951) and y=-0.27x+762.02 (75-900 μg/L,R2=0.9959). The limit of detection was 0.14 μg/L(3σ). The average recoveries in spiked tape water samples ranged from 86.8%-113.4% with relative standard deviation of less than 15%. The result implied that the developed method was able to apply to detect mercury ion rapidly, sensitively and conveniently.

Influence of Water Properties on the Contents of Aconitine-Type Diester Alkaloids in the Decoctions of Unprocessed Aconite Root / 日本東洋医学雑誌

The decoctions of unprocessed aconite root (uzu) were prepared with the tap water samples collected in Tianjin and Shanghai in China, and the contents of alkaloids in the decoctions were compared to those prepared with purified water or with tap water collected in Niigata, Japan. The contents of aconitine-type diester alkaloids (ADA) in the decoctions prepared with tap water collected in China were significantly lower than those with purified water or tap water in Niigata. It was speculated that this difference appeared by buffering effect of bicarbonic anion in tap water in China to decline pH of the decoction. When uzu was decocted with glycyrrhiza, ginger, or jujube, the contents of ADA in the decoctions exhibited the tendency to have higher levels than those prepared using unprocessed aconite root singly, and also this tendency was observed more remarkably when the decoctions were prepared with tap water collected in China. It was suggested that even the decocting period was fixed, unexpected change of the contents of ADAs might be induced by the differences in the properties of water used for decoction or the crude drugs decocted with aconite root. The physicians in the era when “Songban Shanghanlun” had established may have adjusted the contents of ADA in the decoction by carefully choosing the crude drugs combined to aconite root.

Identification and Genotypic Characterization of Potentially Pathogenic Acanthamoeba Isolated from Tap Water in Wuxi, China

Members of genus Acanthamoeba are widely distributed in the environment. Some are pathogenic and cause keratitis and fatal granulomatous amoebic encephalitis. In this study, we isolated an Acanthamoeba CJW/W1 strain from tap water in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. Its 18S rDNA was sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The isolated cysts belonged to morphologic group II. Comparison of 18S rDNA sequences of CJW/W1 strain and other isolates showed high similarity (99.7%) to a clinical isolate Asp, KA/E28. A phylogeny analysis confirmed this isolate belonged to the pathogenic genotype T4, the most common strain associated with Acanthamoeba-related diseases. This is the first report of an Acanthamoeba strain isolated from tap water in Wuxi, China. Acanthamoeba could be a public health threat to the contact lens wearers and, therefore, its prevalence should be monitored.

Non-fastidous antibiotic-resistance bacteria pollution in tap water / 军事医学

Objective To study the non-fastidous antibiotic-resistance bacteria pollution in tap water from a neighborhood in Tianjin.Methods Tap water samples were collected and bacteria were isolated by R2A agar,and 16S rRNA gene sequence for the identification of bacteria isolates was used.Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.Results Among the 39 non-fastidous bacteria isolates,the resistance rate of antibioticresistance bacteria was 79.49％,including Enterococcus,Staphylococcus,Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas.Some bacteria (28.21％) showed resistance against only one antibiotic.The others (51.28％) were multiple resistant bacteria.Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistance was most prevalent (53.85％),and sulfamethoxazole resistance was also widely distributed (28.21％).Conclusion Tap water from this neighborhood is heavily polluted by non-fastidous antibioticresistantance bacteria,which deserves more attention.

Detection of Pathogenic Legionella pneumophila in Tap Water and Water of Newborn Incubators in Hospitals of Guilan Province by PCR of mip Gene.

Aims: This study is designed to determine the frequency of Legionella pneumophila in cold and warm water as well as water containers of newborn incubators in Guilan province hospitals, Iran, using amplification of the macrophage infectivity protein gene (mip gene) by PCR. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The present study was performed in the Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences between June 2011 and July 2012 Methodology: Samples were collected directly in sterile containers, concentrated in centrifuge, transferred to yeast extract broth containing L- cysteine, Fe2+, Glycin and vancomycin and incubated for 3-4 days. DNA was extracted by using the boiling method and PCR was performed to search Legionella and mip gene using two pairs of primers. Contamination with other bacteria was evaluated in all negative samples using universal primers of 16S rRNA gene. Results: About 8.5% of the samples had L. pneumophila including 11% of the incubators and 5.8% of both hot and cold tap water. The mip gene was found in 2.8% of the samples. One third of the incubator and one half of the hot water habited L. pneumophila had the mip gene but it was not found in cold tap water samples. About 87.2% of the negative samples showed bacterial contamination as revealed by PCR with primers of 16S rRNA gene. Conclusions: This study indicates that in spite of using distilled water for incubators, L. pneumophila contamination is considerable and other bacterial contamination is very high. It may be related to the length of time that water remains in an incubator container which is a predisposing factor for both biofilm formation and the growth of water microflora. It seems that the high temperature of hot water system and the high rate of free residual chlorine in tap water system are the main causes of low rate of Legionella contamination but are ineffective on contamination with other bacteria.

Real-time Assay of Toxic Lead in In Vivo Living Plant Tissue

A method of detecting lead was developed using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) with DNA-carbon nanotube paste electrode (CNTPE). The results indicated a sensitive oxidation peak current of lead on the DNA-CNTPE. The curves were obtained within a concentration range of 50 ngL-1-20 mgL-1 with preconcentration time of 100, 200, and 400 sec at the concentration of mgL-1, microgL-1, and ngL-1, respectively. The observed relative standard deviation was 0.101% (n = 12) in the lead concentration of 30.0 microgL-1 under optimum conditions. The low detection limit (S/N) was pegged at 8 ngL-1 (2.6 x10-8 M). Results showed that the developed method can be used in real-time assay in vivo without requiring any pretreatment and pharmaceutical samples, and food samples, as well as other materials requiring water source contamination analyses.

Association Between Drinking Water Sources And Diarrhea With Malnutrition Among Kindergarten's Children In Baghdad City, Iraq

Malnutrition is associated with childhood diseases such as diarrhea or other severe illness. Children who suffer from repeated episodes of diarrhea are more likely to suffer from malnutrition. In addition, the source of drinking water is a very important factor affecting the nutritional status. The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of malnutrition condition among children aged 3 to 5 years old and the factors associated with it. A cross sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted among 220 children aged 3 to 5 years old from four kindergartens in Baghdad city, Iraq. Nutritional assessment was carried out using the indicator weight-for-age z-score based on World Health Organization cut off points. Acute malnutrition was found in 18.2 % of the respondents. In this study 65 % of the respondents used tap water to drink as compared to 35 % who used sterilized bottles as source of drinking water. The environmental factors mainly the source of drinking water was significantly associated with child nutritional status (p=0.034). The prevalence of diarrhea and admissions to the hospital due to diarrhea were also significantly associated with malnutrition (p < 0.01, p <0.01) respectively. In conclusion, the effect of diarrhea on child nutritional status is very important and till now considered the major cause of child malnutrition. Shortage of safe drinking water in Iraq can lead to an increase in diarrhea cases and eventually leading to child malnutrition.

<b>Differences in Water Hardness when preparing Ephedrae Herba Decoctions : Special Focus on a Comparison of Tap Water </b><b>in Japan and China </b> / 日本東洋医学雑誌

Decoctions of Ephedrae Herba were prepared using tap water sampled in Changping District, Beijing City(China), tap water sampled in Niigata City (Japan) and some mineral water samples sold in markets. Various dissimilarities were found between drug extracts prepared using tap water in Japan and China, and the extraction efficiency of the alkaloids with Beijing tap water was approximately 80% of that with Niigata tap water. It is suggested that these dissimilarities result from concentrations of temporally hard components, such as calcium and magnesium bicarbonate salts, in the water. In addition, when Zizyphi Fructus and Ephedrae Herba were decocted together in hard water, the state of the decoction, ephedra-alkaloid content included, was found to come close to that of single Ephedrae Herba decoctions prepared using soft water. It was suggested that Ziziphi Fructus might possibly play roles as a softening agent in decoctions prepared using hard water.

The occurrence of Aeromonas in drinking water, tap water and the Porsuk River

The occurrence of Aeromonas spp. in the Porsuk River, public drinking water and tap water in the City of Eskisehir (Turkey) was monitored. Fresh water samples were collected from several sampling sites during a period of one year. Total 102 typical colonies of Aeromonas spp. were submitted to biochemical tests for species differentiation and of 60 isolates were confirmed by biochemical tests. Further identifications of isolates were carried out first with the VITEK system (BioMeÿrieux) and then selected isolates from different phenotypes (VITEK types) were identified using the DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® system. Aeromonas spp. was detected only in the samples from the Porsuk River. According to the results obtained with the VITEK system, our isolates were 13 percent Aeromonas hydrophila, 37 percent Aeromonas caviae, 35 percent Pseudomonas putida, and 15 percent Pseudomonas acidovorans. In addition Pseudomonas sp., Pseudomonas maltophila, Aeromonas salmonicida, Aeromonas hydrophila, and Aeromonas media species were determined using the RiboPrinter® system. The samples taken from the Porsuk River were found to contain very diverse Aeromonas populations that can pose a risk for the residents of the city. On the other hand, drinking water and tap water of the City are free from Aeromonas pathogens and seem to be reliable water sources for the community.

Evaluation of Selected Metal Elements in Commercial Drinking Water and Tap Water in Peninsular Malaysia / Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia

The present study was carried out to determine the concentrations of selected metal elements (lead, copper, manganese, zinc and iron) in 51 samples of commercial drinking water and tap water available in Malaysia. The results indicated that low metal elements were found in the studied water samples. Lead, manganese, zinc and iron were not detected in some of the studied samples, except copper. The concentrations of the metal elements in the studied samples were well below the maximum permitted concentrations as recommended. Therefore these drinking water are safe for consumption and do not pose adverse effect to the health of consumers due to metal toxicity.

Influencing Factors on Popularization of Tap Water in Endemic Fluorosis Areas / 环境与健康杂志

Objective To know the influencing factors for the popularization of tap water in endemic fluorosis areas. Methods The families were randomly selected from Dongdingwang and Xinzhuang in Donghai county,Jiangsu province and were investigated with questionnaire and all members from these families were diagnosed for dental fluorosis with Dean’s method on May 2006. The influencing factors were analyzed with multifactor non-conditional Logistic regression. Results There was no significant difference on the popularization of tap water between the 2 villages (P=0.454). The relative location of the home in village was the risk factor. The size and the economic condition of the families and the householder’s knowledge on the tap water were protective factors. Conclusion The popularization of tap water should be extremely improved based on the improvement of the main influencing factors.

Changes in HSP (Heat Shock Protein) 70 due to C02 Warm Water Bathing / 日本温泉気候物理医学会雑誌

HSP70 is a kind of stress protein that takes care of protein through its life, and it has attracted attention as a factor to promote health. This protein is known for its induction route through hyperthermia stimulation. We compared differences between the effects of carbonic warm water bathing and tap warm water bathing, and the report obtained interesting results. The subjects are six healthy adults (average age: 23.8±5.5 years, each three from males and females), applied full immersion bathing at 41°C for 10min in both ca. 1, 000ppm of high concentration CO₂ warm water and tap warm water, and compared HSP70 before the bathing and one day after the bathing. During the observation of 24h, external thermal stimulation such as warm bathing was banned. 3 persons took warm bathing in CO₂ water first and the other 3 persons took tap water first. There was 10 days interval between the bathing in both types of bathing.<br>The results showed that an increase in precordial temperature measured with a deep-body thermometer was 1.0°C in tap warm water bathing and 2.3°C in CO₂ warm water bathing. The change in HSP70 was 3.31→4.35 (AU/mg protein: p=0.08) in tap warm water bathing and 3.42→5.04 (p<0.05) in CO₂ warm water bathing. Although a slight increase was recognized in tap warm water bathing, a significant increase in HSP70 was recognized in CO₂ warm water bathing.

A Comparison of the Effect of Chlorhexidine, Tap Water and Normal Saline on Healing Wounds / Comparación del Efecto de Clorhexidina, Agua Corriente y Suero Salino en Curación de Heridas

Many researchers have advocated in recent times that antiseptic use in healing wounds should be discouraged. Antiseptics have been found to retard healing of wounds. Innocuous solutions like normal saline and tap water are being considered as better alternatives to antiseptics. Chlorhexidine, a commonly used antiseptic, is known to be less toxic on granulation cells. We decided to compare the effect of chlorhexidine, normal saline and tap water on healing wounds. Three groups of wistar rats had 2 by 2cm full thickness wounds made on their right dorsolateral flanks. The wounds were dressed with either chlorhexidine, normal saline or tap water. Wounds were examined at three-day intervals and measurements of area covered were taken on the first day of study and the ninth day. Wound contraction on the ninth day and number of days for healing to take place in the different groups was taken and statistical analysis using student t-test was done to compare the values. Gross morphology of the wounds was also observed. The result showed an inhibitory effect of chlorhexidine on healing wounds. The wound contraction in the antiseptic group was less than the tap water and saline group on day nine. The average number of days for wound healing to be completed in the antiseptic group was more than the other two. These results were statistically significant when compared with the other two groups. There was no statistical difference in the wound contraction values and rate of healing of the saline and tap water dressed wounds. Grossly, all the wounds dressed with antiseptic also had greenish exudates on their surface by day nine with pale looking granulation tissue, and there was greater mortality in this group.

En la actualidad, diversos investigadores han propagado que el uso de antisépticos en heridas en cicatrización debería, ser abandonado. Se ha encontrado que los antisépticos retardan la cicatrización. Soluciones inocuas, tales como, suero salino y agua corriente, están siendo consideradas como mejores alternativas para efectos antisépticos. La clorhexidina, un antiséptico comúnmente usado, es conocida por ser menos tóxica sobre las células granulares. Basado en lo anterior, comparamos los efectos de la clorhexidina, suero salino y agua corriente en heridas en cicatrización. A tres grupos de ratas Wistar se les infirió heridas de 2 x 2 cm de grosor, en su flanco dorsolateral derecho. La heridas fueron cubiertas (pinceladas) con clorhexidina, solución salina o agua corriente, según el caso. Estas heridas fueronn examinadas cada tres días y las mediciones del área cubierta fueron registradas desde el primero al noveno día. La contracción de la herida al noveno día y el número de días que llevó para cicatrizar se regsitraron en los diversos grupos, analizando los resultados esatadísticamente, usando el test t- student para comparar los valores. La morfología macroscópica también fue observada. Los resultados mostraron un efecto inhibidor de la clorhexidina sobre la cicatrización. La contracción de la herida en el grupo con antiséptico fue menor que en los grupos con suero salino y agua corriente. El promedio de días para cicatrizar, fue mayor en el grupo con antiséptico. Estos resultados fueron estadísticamente significativos al compararlos con los otros dos grupos. No hubo diferencias estadísticamente significativas en los valores de contracción de la herida y rango de cicatrización en el grupo tratado con suero salino normal y en el con agua corriente. Desde el punto de vista macroscópico, las heridas tratadas con el antiséptico también tuvieron un exudado verdoso sobre su superficie al día noveno con un tejido granular pálido y hubo mayor ...

The role of domestic tap water in Acanthamoeba contamination in contact lens storage cases in Korea

A survey was carried out from August to December 2004 in Pusan, Korea to document the presence of free-living amoeba (FLA), including the genus Acanthamoeba, in both contact lens storage cases and domestic tap water. Acanthamoeba was isolated from 5 (4.2%) in 120 contact lens storage cases. Four house tap water samples from residents, whose contact lens storage cases had been contaminated by Acanthamoeba, were also found to be contaminated with Acanthamoeba. Therefore, the contamination rate of FLA and Acanthamoeba in domestic tap water was investigated in order to examine the role of domestic tap water in Acanthamoeba contamination of contact lens storage cases. FLA and Acanthamoeba were identified in 97 (46.8%) and 16 (7.7%) of the 207 domestic tap water samples, respectively. There were no significant differences between the contamination rates of FLA in tap water according to the filtration plant of origin. No FLA was detected in the tap water directly supplied by the water purification plants. Water storage tanks appear to promote FLA colonization, including Acanthamoeba, in domestic tap water. This increases the risk of Acanthamoeba contamination in contact lens storage cases as well as increasing the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Determination of Environmental Estrogens in Surface Water and Tap Water / 环境与健康杂志

Objective To understand the environmental estrogens contamination of tap water and source water. Methods Environmental estrogens in the water samples were concentrated by macroporous adsorption resin H103. The effect of environmental estrogens in concentrated samples was assessed by the recombinant yeast system. Results The results showed that some source water and tap water really contained environmental estrogens. The activity of environmental estrogens in concentrated samples of some source water increased as the volume of concentrated sample increased. The concentrate of 100 ml water sample could show the estrogenic effect. Conclusion Some source waters and tap waters in China have been contaminated by environmental estrogens. Environmental estrogens in source water can not be removed completely by drinking water treatment system of city.