Pregnancy is when you need to be extra careful to make sure that neither you nor your baby will have any complications. In addition to a healthy diet, you also need to pay special attention to the quality of the drinking water used. The toxins present in drinking water are harmful to everyone, but expectant mothers need to be extra careful. The reason is that these contaminants in drinking water have been proven to be harmful to both mother and fetus. Considering the increasing pollution, water purifiers have become a necessity for every family, not a luxury.
Drinking tap water during pregnancy poses a great risk to mothers and unborn babies. The reason is that tap water contains a lot of pollutants, causing many health problems. The following are some contaminants in drinking water that require special attention during pregnancy:
Lead
The most harmful pollutant present in water is lead. When water passes through rusty pipes, this contaminant will penetrate into the tap water. Exposure to lead during pregnancy can affect the cognitive function of babies and also affect their IQ level. This also increases the risk of attention-related behavioral problems after the baby is born.
Pesticides
Organic chemicals such as glyphosate may seep into the water due to crop runoff. Drinking this contaminated water can increases the risk of decreased fetal growth.
Arsenic
Arsenic seeps into water from different types of natural sediments or industrial pollution. Drinking high-arsenic drinking water during pregnancy will increase the chance of fetal miscarriage, premature delivery and birth defects.
Disinfection by-products
When a chemical disinfectant reacts with natural organic matter, it causes the formation of chloroform. There is a link between the presence of disinfection by-products and the increased risk of fetal birth defects. The presence of disinfection by-products in the water can cause neural tube defects.
Given the increase in water pollution, the only way to ensure protection from harmful effects is to install a reverse osmosis water purifier. Water purifiers use a variety of purification processes to remove different types of contaminants in drinking water and make the water safe to use.