What
I am about to present was not meant to be anything in particular. I had one
hour left of work and I decided to spend it analyzing random things I could
find. But, it was in this hour I stumbled across something concerning.
Siena
College, located in Loudonville NY might have toxic water. I randomly chose to analyze the drinking
water in Roger Bacon (our science building). Note: this was the only building I
surveyed so I cannot make the same judgment for other buildings until further
tests are run.
Results
The
HD Prime works by surveying samples for their elemental makeup. It specifically
looks for eight toxic elements. When an element is found in a substance above
its regulated standards (set by the CPSIA) the box will appear red. Below is what the HD Pime found in the water sample.
The EPA allows for .006 ppm of antimony in drinking water, but my smaple
contained approximatky 276 ppm. Next week I am going to go around and test
water samples from all around campus. I hope this is a fluke sample (all though
in another sample from that day I found even more).
I hope that an error occurred through cross
contamination. I had just worked with limestone that had high levels of
antimony in it. It is possible some hight have crossed over into my contaier
before I filled it with water. As well, the Agency for Toxic Substances &
Disease Registry said anything above 17ppm will make you sick. I will be
looking into this water issue all next week.
Side Effects
Side effects of antimony include respetory iritation,
pneumoconiosis, gastrointestinal symptoms, and cancer.
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