Thursday, January 16, 2014

CDC advisory: Pregnant women should not drink tap water in 9-county region


The state Bureau of Public Health announced Wednesday night the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends pregnant women in the nine-county water emergency region drink bottled water until crude MCHM is out of the West Virginia American Water system.
The CDC is sticking with its previous advice that it anticipates no health problems from contamination levels less than 1 part per million.
The following is the full statement released Wednesday night by the state DHHR:
“The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health advises, after consultation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this evening, that the CDC recommends—out of an abundance of caution—that pregnant women drink bottled water until there are no longer detectable levels of MCHM in the water distribution system. However, the CDC re-affirmed previous advice that it does not anticipate any adverse health effects from levels less than 1 ppm.”