Research Report

The Water Quality and Health Council is an independent,
multidisciplinary group sponsored by the Chlorine Chemistry Council. Its mission is to promote science based practices and policies to enhance water quality and health by advising industry, health professionals, policy makers and the public.

Research Report

California Department of Health Services Drinking Water Study Assesses Pregnancy Outcomes

The results of a study conducted by the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) suggest that pregnant women who daily drink five or more glasses of water containing high levels of disinfection by-products could be at a higher risk for miscarriage. Published in the March 1998 issue of the journal Epidemiology, the study assessed the pregnancies and drinking water consumption habits of over 5,000 pregnant women in three California areas.

Did You Know?

A person consumes 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime.

Sixty percent of the world's fresh water resources are concentrated in just ten countries.

Following release of the results, the study's authors cautioned against overreaction, but they also suggested that pregnant women should contact their doctors if they had questions. They pointed out that it was the first study of its kind and that the findings were far from definitive and emphasized the need for the results to be replicated elsewhere.

The CDHS research found that only 2 percent of the total study population drank over five glasses a day of cold tap water containing the highest concentration of total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) at least 75 micrograms per liter. That group experienced an early term miscarriage rate of 15.7% compared with a rate of 9.7% among women with low TTHM exposure (drinking less than five glasses of cold tap water at home).

The cases identified among the higher risk group were localized in one geographic area that also exhibited higher levels of a particular THM, bromodichloromethane. There was no evidence that tap water consumption increased the risk of miscarriage in the other two study regions.

The EPA, which provided some funding for this study, noted that it will fund additional research with the CDHS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Toxicology Program in attempts to replicate the California findings.

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