Reproductive Toxicology of Water Contaminants Detected by Routine Water Quality Testing

Abstract

The presence of a reproductive toxicant in drinking water is one possible explanation of differences in spontaneous abortion rates between women who drink tapwater and those who do not. As part of the investigation conducted by the California Department of Health Services, several routine water quality assays were used to screen water sources available to the populations studied. I reviewed information in the literature about the potential reproductive toxicity of contaminants detected in these assays. None of these contaminants was clearly linked to increased incidence of abortion in the studies reviewed. (Epidemiology 1992;3:125–129)