Tap water isn't safe to use in neti pots and other home medical devices. Here's what to do instead

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Tap water is not sterile, and using it in home medical devices can result in serious and even deadly infections. But in a study published Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, one-third of respondents to a survey incorrectly answered that tap water does not contain bacteria or other living organisms.

In the August 2021 survey, more than half of 1,004 survey participants incorrectly said that tap water can be used for nasal rinsing, 50% believed is appropriate for rinsing contact lenses and 42% trusted it is safe for use in respiratory devices such as humidifiers or CPAP -- continuous positive airway pressure -- machines, which are used to treat sleep apnea.

Shanna Miko, an author of the study and Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says these findings highlight misconceptions about the safe use of nonsterile tap water for medical devices at home.Nightly Briefing newsletter: Sign up for coverage of the day’s most compelling news

Although U.S. tap water is treated to meet safe drinking standards, it may contain low levels of microorganisms. These microbes are generally harmless when ingested during drinking and cooking because they are killed by stomach acid. However, when irrigating the nose or eyes, they may cause serious and even deadly infections.

"With the aging infrastructure, our aging pipes, there are some new waterborne challenges that have emerged, and those are basically these pathogens or these germs that can live in these protective areas that like to stick to pipes called biofilm pathogens," Miko said.Pathogens found in tap water systems -- including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, nontuberculous mycobacteria, Legionella, Acanthamoeba and Naegleria fowleri -- can invade the lungs, brain, eyes or skin.

 

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Don't put water up your nose?

But it's totally safe to give fentanyl to addicts

Dont even drink our tap water. My tap water tastes like chemicals. Then I am charged 110% what I use to go down the drain .Pffff.

From CNN, not about Canadian drinking water. LAZY .

Hmm... How about? Stop taking the injections

Distilled water is the only thing you should use.

RTFM Read the f****** manual. They all say not to use tap water.

Next thing fakenews is going to say is that tap water causes heart attacks. The days of the fakenews are numbered.

Canada sure has depreciated in its ability to provide safe drinking water. I have to use bottled water because the water in Medicine hat is so bad and horrible tasting, makes a person want to puke when they drink it.

This is not news

No kidding,

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