Infants and children are the most vulnerable members of society when it comes to drinking water with high levels of manganese, even if only for a short time.
Health Canada says formula-fed infants may be especially at risk if the water used to prepare the formula contains levels above the guideline value.
Earlier this year Health Canada, an arm of the Canadian Government. set a new guideline value for manganese in drinking water of 0.12 milligrams per litre (mg/L) but admitted that older children and adults could handle much higher levels.
According to a report they released at the time, the increased health risk for infants and younger children are:
a) their brains are developing rapidly.
b) they drink more water based on body weight.
c) they absorb more manganese and are less able to remove it from their bodies.
The report goes on to say that exposure to manganese in drinking water can cause:
a) neurological and behavioural effects
b) deficits in memory, attention and motor skills
Health Canada notes: “The Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality for Manganese are based on recent scientific studies and set out the basic parameters that every water authority should strive to achieve to provide the cleanest, safest and most reliable drinking water possible.”
The United States, on the other hand, has set its guidelines much lower (allows more manganese). The country’s Environmental Protection Agency has developed a health advisory level for manganese in drinking water of 0.3mg/l.
South Africa appears to set the bar even lower, believing more than 13 times the amount of manganese at 4mg/l in drinking water is safe.
On the dashboard of the National Integrated Water System of the Department of Water and Sanitation website. it states that in raw (untreated) water “Manganese is a common reason for brown or black discolouration of fixtures and for stains in laundry, but it is unlikely to affect human health.”
Comment: All three bodies reported on in this article claim that their studies are based on scientific studies. With increased usage of manganese as demand for lithium-ion batteries rises, perhaps only time will reveal what the safe levels of manganese in water really are.
