[ Unless you’re immune-compromised, most people are
just as well off drinking tap water as bottled water. ]
Meet the Scientists
medical diagnosis and patient care when the physician and patient are hundreds or thousands of miles apart.
Simple, Inexpensive System
Dr. Whitesides and his colleagues at Harvard University and the University of Sau Paulo in
Brazil developed and tested a simple, inexpensive telemedicine system. It is ideal for developing countries or remote areas lacking advanced medical equipment.
The system combines a cell phone camera with easy-to-use, paper-based diagnostic tests
that undergo color changes when exposed to certain disease markers. The paper strips analyze urine, saliva, or other samples from patients and show the results with a color change.
The cell phone camera records the results as a digital picture and transmits the image for
reading by off-site medical personnel. Here is Dr. Whitesides:
George M. Whitesides, Ph.D.
“Water is probably the key element in public health. There are many approaches to measuring clean water. Contaminants in water range from microorganisms to arsenic. You
often must have an analysis carried out locally. If one can’t afford to have the information collected by an expert and that means hours of travel just to get one point of information, our idea is to use a very simple and inexpensive analytical system. People can
collect the information locally and then the device records and reports the information
as a colorimetric or color change. That information can be transmitted by a cell phone
to a central facility staffed by an expert who would not have to travel. The facility could
receive information from a number of agents who were out collecting information in a
different way.”
Marc Edwards, Ph.D.
Global Challenges at Home
Can people in the United States and other developed countries trust their drinking water?
With almost universal municipal water purification, developed countries do not face ongoing problems with water-borne diseases. Epidemics of typhoid and cholera transmitted by
contaminated water — a major cause of illness and death early in the 20th century — are
not even a memory.
However, other concerns do exist about the quality and safety of our tap water. Consumers
in some areas complain about unpleasant taste and odor in drinking water. In other areas,
water supplies have levels of lead and other substances.
Scientists are concerned about an emerging group of water pollutants that challenge traditional water treatment plants. Among them are the so-called PPCPs — pharmaceuticals and
personal care products. These contaminants include ingredients in prescription and nonpre-scription medicines, cosmetics, and other products.
Professor of Plumbing
So how safe is our tap water? For answers, Global Challenges turns to Dr. Marc Edwards,
who Time magazine dubbed “The Plumbing Professor” and featured in 2004 as one of the
nation’s leading scientific innovators.
One focus of this Virginia Tech professor’s research is lead leaching into drinking water as
a result of water purification plants switching to chloramine disinfectant. Edwards reported
on the topic in that special issue of Environmental Science & Technology. Dr. Edwards’ overall assessment of drinking water quality in the United States is reassuring.
“The biggest issue is really lead in water. Unless you’re immune-compromised, most
people are just as well off drinking tap water as bottled water, but the big exception is
young children who are very susceptible to lead’s effects. There are some situations, rare
