Preliminary results of a nationwide study suggest that the disinfectant used to treat water before it is distributed through pipes may impact the incidence of Legionnaire’s disease in certain parts of the country. The findings will be presented Dec. 9 at the annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis in Washington, D.C.
Waterborne diseases — caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites — affect more than 7 million people in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. One of them is Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially severe pneumonia. It is caused by the bacterium Legionella, which grows
Study Says Water Treatment Methods May Impact Risk of Legionnaires’ Disease
Higher rates of disease are seen in zip codes served by water treatment plants that use chlorine as the primary disinfectant
