Lead Water-Pipes by John Harvey Kellogg

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 3, 1874

Lead Water-Pipes.

By John Harvey Kellogg

NOTWITHSTANDING the frequency with which public attention has been called to the fact that water which has passed through lead pipes is rendered poisonous, there seems to be little, if any diminution in the use of this dangerous means of conveying water. In small cities and rural districts, where cisterns are employed, the water is often collected from roofs which are covered with tin, small sheets being soldered together. The water is then conveyed to the cistern in eave-troughs made in the same way, and is finally drawn from the cistern through a lead pipe. Tin roofs and eave-troughs are even worse than lead, on account of the solder used in their construction. As is well known, solder is composed largely of lead; and being an amalgam, the lead contained in it is even more readily oxidized than the pure metal, in obedience to a chemical law relating to all amalgams.

In large cities, lead pipe is almost universally employed to distribute the water from the large iron pipes to the various blocks and apartments where it is to be used. Convenience of adaptation is doubtless its great recommendation. In this respect it is much superior to pipes made of any other metal, but life and health are much too valuable to be sacrificed to mere convenience. Neither is the question of expense one which is worthy of consideration.

It is a general opinion, for which certain reckless chemists are responsible, that only soft or pure water is liable to be affected by lead pipes, it being asserted that water which contains lime will form an insoluble coating upon the interior of the pipe, which will effectually prevent contact of the water with the lead. This would be true if the water contained no free carbonic acid; but as this gas is always in solution in the water, thus giving it the power to dissolve the insoluble deposits which may occur, it is readily seen that even hard water cannot be safely used after passing through a lead pipe.

Thousands of people are being constantly poisoned by the water employed for drinking and cooking purposes without a suspicion of the cause of their unpleasant symptoms. They suffer a long time with obstinate constipation, colic pains, and flatulence. Perhaps a little discoloration of the gums will be next observed. At last, when lifting some weight, the muscles of the arms will suddenly become powerless, the wrists will drop, and the individual, becoming alarmed, will send for a physician, who at once discovers the characteristic symptoms of lead paralysis. At the large hospitals of New York and Philadelphia may be found numerous cases of this kind. Some recover, others remain permanent sufferers.—J. H. K. in Health Reformer.