Reducing drinking water sodium concentrations did not influence adolescent blood pressure
Title:
Reducing drinking water sodium concentrations did not influence adolescent blood pressure
Author:
Tuthill, Robert W. Calabrese, Edward J.
Appeared in:
Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering
Paging:
Volume 24 (1989) nr. 7 pages 711-729
Year:
1989-10
Contents:
Previous investigations established that elementary and high school students residing in Reading, Massachusetts, displayed significantly higher blood pressure than their counterparts in the adjacent community of Stoneham, Massachusetts. Extensive evaluations of family history, dietary patterns, socio-demographic variables and chemical measurements of drinking water revealed that the level of sodium in the drinking water was the variable most strongly associated with the higher blood pressure of the Reading students. A subsequent study, in which a group of Reading fifth graders' families was given Stoneham water for all drinking and cooking purposes for a three month period., indicated that female but not male students displayed a significant decrease in their blood pressure. Subsequently, the Town of Reading announced its intention to reduce sodium levels in the drinking water by switching from the use of NaOH to CaOH as a pH adjustment technique. A study was set up to assess the impact of such a reduction in drinking water sodium levels (i.e. 120 mg/L to 35 mg/L) on the blood pressure distribution of Reading school children. The study design included a comparison of the blood pressure values of Reading and Stoneham eighth grade students taken just prior to the proposed change in the drinking water to their blood pressure values one year after the new treatment facility was operational. Because of unanticipated and prolonged problems in the construction and initial operation of the plant, the blood pressure retesting occurred two and a half years after the initial blood pressure screening, and ten months after the Reading water treatment plant had been operating with consistently lowered levels of sodium (35 mg/L). In this study the reduction in sodium concentration in the Reading drinking water was not associated with a differential change in blood pressures in the Reading adolescents as compared to the Stoneham adolescents.
Journal description