Is Dangerous Drinking Water from Plastic Pipe?

The chemicals contained in plastic has been known to cause some risk of a dangerous disease. In fact, plastic pipe commonly used in water distribution systems in homes. Pipes for drinking water are made ​​of plastic called a cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). Previous international studies have shown that plastic pipe can release substances that cause taste and odor are not desirable in drinking water.

Some studies also have suggested that these substances may be carcinogenic or trigger cancer. Research conducted Norwegian Institute of Public Health aims to investigate the substances in the pipeline is dangerous to health as well as affect the taste and odor of drinking water. These substances consist of additional materials used during the production of plastic pipes to provide the desired properties.

The study showed:
* There are no health risks associated with drinking water from PEX pipes
* A few types of PEX-pipe may cause prolonged undesirable taste and odour if the water remains in pipes over time
* Although the taste and odour usually dissipate with use, water from two of the PEX types still had an unpleasant smell and taste after a year
* The level of volatile organic compounds that leaked from new PEX pipes was generally low
* The level was further reduced with use
* No correlation was found between production method and leaking products

Ten different types of PEX pipes available in the Norwegian market were tested for leaching products in a standardised laboratory test. The water was in contact with the tubes for 72 hours.

Three different manufacturing methods produce pipes known as PEX-a, PEX-b or PEX-c. These methods use slightly different additives, but this study found no correlation between production method and leakage products.

2.4-di-tert-butyl-phenol and methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE) were two of the most commonly occurring substances detected in the water in the experiments.

For three types of new pipe, MTBE was detected in higher concentrations than the U.S. government's recommended limits for taste and odour of drinking water (USEPA), but the values were reduced to below this limit after the tubes had been in use for a while.