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Don’t use unsterilized tap water to rinse your sinuses. It may carry brain-eating amoebas (www.sciencenews.org)
submitted 7 months ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/publichealth@mander.xyz
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[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 33 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (9 children)

One PPM of chlorine is enough to kill most amoeba in about 10 mins.

If amoeba can survive in tap water where you are at, you probably shouldn't drink the water without filtering and boiling it first anyway.

Also, get some multi-chemical water test strips as well. While those don't tell the full story, they can be useful if deciding to have your water tested at a lab. (Test strips a decent enough at detecting chlorine, some metals, salts, etc. I don't know if they exist, but detection of disolved gasses, like natural gas, would be a huge plus if you live in an area that has a lot of oil drilling.)

Everyone should spend at least a few bucks to know what they will be drinking at home on a regular basis, IMHO.

[–] tool@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (7 children)

While those don't tell the full story, they can be useful if deciding to have your water tested at a lab.

Everyone should spend at least a few bucks to know what they will be drinking at home on a regular basis, IMHO.

Lab testing is going to be a waste of money for most people not using well water, unless you have a strong reason to suspect something is up aside from test-strip reaults. Especially seeing as how the water chemistry is going to change at least twice per year when the water provider switches from chlorine to the chloramines and vice-versa. And pretty much all providers will give you a report of exactly what's in the water on a monthly basis if you ask for it.

Lab results would be useful if you're serious about homebrewing beer and don't want to build up the water profile from scratch or really into baking, though. Just don't do it in the early Spring/Fall, because that's when the treatment chemicals switch and the results aren't going to be representative of what the water is really like for that time of the year.

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 2 points 7 months ago

My stomach is super picky and I drink a ton of water. It doesn't take much to mess me up.

Even perfectly clean water will trigger my acid reflux, but that is more of a mechanical issue with my stomach, from what I understand. The bigger moral of the story here is not to be a raging alcoholic for many consecutive years...

I even get monthly water reports automatically due to the number of lawsuits my town has had because of water quality. Needless to say, my trust level is not set at maximum even for third-party reports paid for by the city.

You ain't wrong, but the redundancy makes me feel better.

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[–] jadero@mander.xyz 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Hah. I've been swimming in freshwater lakes, rivers, and reservoirs for about 65 years. Ain't nothin' takin' me down.

Also a former water treatment plant operator, so I should probably not be quite so complacent. :)

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Some places are worse than others, from what I understand. Also, I haven't had an issue with my brain being eaten after years of swimming in freshwater sources.

The above paper was about a place in Pakistan, so who knows what their water is like..

[–] elbarto777@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Some streams in some U.S. national parks advise against submerging your head in the water for the risk of getting brain eating amoebas.

[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 7 months ago

Warm still water specifically as I recall.

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 2 points 7 months ago

I have only had to take extra precautions in costal areas. When I was a kid, I remember some fairly strict warnings about amoebas in places like Florida and up the East Coast to North Carolina. Honestly, I don't remember that many details since that was about 35 years ago. (Maybe it's about water temperature or water chemistry, or something. Dunno.)

Reminiscing aside, all fresh water has risks for one reason or another. If you are ever lost, stranded or even on a super long hike everything becomes exponentially more dangerous anyway. (Small risks become massive risks, basically.)

If there is anything you never fuck around with in the wild, it's a water source. Not only can it host a ton of things that can kill you or just make you sick, it also attracts other, bigger, critters. Nevermind that we need a fuck ton of water to drink ourselves and need to stay near water sources.

Nature is brutal.

[–] jadero@mander.xyz 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I'm more concerned about e coli levels than amoeba. But Lord only knows what gets into the South Saskatchewan River system and what grows vigorously once the water slows down in Lake Diefenbaker.

At least I've stopped swimming in the runoff sloughs in cattle pastures. (Kids are all kinds of stupid!)

[–] remotelove@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I miss being a kid in the country, sometimes. The stupidity was never ending and the risk->reward function always paid massive dividends.

TBH, we had super clean water where I grew up and there were bigger risks than getting covered in cow shit, which did happen on occasion. (My best friend at the time got his hands on some blasting caps one weekend. We probably weren't much older than 12 or 13 at the time....)

Sorry for the tangent. This conversation kicked up more nostalgia than I expected.

[–] jadero@mander.xyz 3 points 7 months ago

Sorry for the tangent. This conversation kicked up more nostalgia than I expected.

No problem.

Heh! You had blasting caps, we had carbide (my grandfather was still running an acetylene generator in his welding/machine/mechanic shop).

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[–] dave@feddit.uk 18 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do what now? I mean, don’t use a dishcloth to wipe your retinas either.

[–] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Some people pour water up their nose. I saw someone doing it in the military. Said it felt great. I wasn't convinced.

[–] Hector@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I am genetically blessed with a chronic form of histamine allergies that keep my sinuses blocked. On bad days, I have to heat water, then let it cool, and then add a specific salt then use a medical pump to pump them all the way through my nostrils until they reach the back of my throat to make sure the canals are open. Doctor's orders and all. I assure you, we are not doing this for fun.

[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 7 months ago

The results definitely feel great, the process is def miserable.

And the result is generally not amazing, just no longer "I want to take chunks out of my face with a rusty mellon baller until I can finally breath"

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

I have been doing it for quite a while now though I filter it via brita. But I imagine if the chlorine in the water is not killing that mf, no brita is gonna stop it either.

That being said, I am not %100 sure about how deeply this is researched though. For instance what is the mechanism by which this fella gets in the brain? Does it need to pass thru the blood brain barrier or is there a shortcut? Does this more commonly occur in people with immunodeficiency problems? The news quotes for instance

"All 10 of the people in the CDC study had one or more conditions that weakened their immune systems, including cancer or HIV/AIDS."

Seems like I may have been snorting brain eating amoebas into my nose wo knowing.

[–] Sizzler@slrpnk.net 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Boil the water, and then let it cool

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

cooling takes too much time, I usually do this like 5 mins before going to bed

[–] TeoTwawki@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Use distilled - someone else already did the boiling and cooling.

[–] evranch@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think Kurzgesagt made a video about how these guys sneak into the brain, they follow the olfactory nerve I believe. They didn't evolve to eat brains, it's just an unhappy coincidence.

I rinse my sinuses with water from my RO system. My well produces barely-drinkable water, so it takes two membrane passes to knock the minerals back. Ain't nothing getting through that, by the time it's in the product tank it's around 5ppm TDS and I have to run it through calcite to add enough solute back to drink it.

If you're really concerned a cheap single pass RO would be more than adequate for town water but make sure you have a carbon prefilter, chlorine eats up the membranes.

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[–] fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago

I don't think the risks are really significant:

Such infections are rare. Acanthamoeba affects only three to 12 people each year in the United States. But about 82 percent of the infections are fatal. About three N. fowleri infections happen in the United States each year (SN: 9/18/20).

Like it's a thing that can happen but... barely worth worrying about.

[–] Brocon@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago (5 children)

What hell hole country shit is this? Holy fuck. Is the municipal water really that bad in your part of the world?

[–] elbarto777@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)

"Your part of the world" is most of the world.

In the country I grew up in, drinking directly from the tap is playing russian roulette.

You either filter the water, or boil it first before consuming it.

When I moved to a country in which tap water was drinkable, it blew my mind. Of course, it's totally normal to me nowadays.

[–] fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The shit we have to do to make it drinkable will probably also blow your mind.

Water is essential to all life on this planet. Imagine drinking water that no other organisms can live in.

[–] elbarto777@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Oh, I saw a couple of documentaries about water treatment a couple of decades ago.

[–] rab@lemmy.ca 9 points 7 months ago (7 children)

Where I live has some of the best water in the world and I was still given this speech when I bought a neti pot

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[–] JakenVeina@lemm.ee 3 points 7 months ago

Why yes, I also have seen that episode of House M.D.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 3 points 7 months ago

Reading this, I like my odds..lol.

That said, distilled doesn't burn as much.

[–] andrewth09@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Oops

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ

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