effi wrote:
copper, on the other hand, used in plumbing definitely presents
health
problems to humans (noting per
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...241107300.html
"However, my own dog had cancer and he was allways given water from
the tap
in the kitchen with copper pipes.")

Here's a more complete quote, which implies something quite different:

"However, my own dog had cancer and he was allways given water from the
tap in the kitchen with copper pipes. He also had good healthcare and a
reasonably varied diet. Many things in our environment can increase the
risk of cancer, but for most who develop it no single thing caused it,
instead the effect was an accumulation of many things working together.
Unfortunately there are no certainties in life, anybody regardless of
age, lifestyle and environment can get cancer."

In other words, anecdotes of single events are often not very good at
proving causality when so many other factors come into play.

From the same thread on gardenweb:

"Copper has well-defined hazards. Plastic is still under investigation
and it will be a long time before the hazards are as well-known as
copper."

google copper pipe cancer

copper pipe also causes schizophrenia in humans, as well as other
problems,
already covered in depth in this newsgroup and now available in the
google
archives

google is your friend

Well, I googled "copper pipe schizophrenia" and the first few hits
seemed to be written by extremist wingnuts, so I quickly got bored with
it. Googling simply "copper schizophrenia" revealed that in addition to
excess copper, INsufficient copper is a factor and that in some
individuals elevated copper was not a cause but an _effect_ of their
genetic predisposition (Wilson's disease).

So myself, if the water's been sitting for a few hours or more, I don't
trust ANY pipe not to leach nasties into my water, plastic or metal.
Before I use any water for drinking or cooking, I make sure I've
flushed a toilet to clear any standing water in the lateral from the
main up to the house, then run the faucet for enough time till the
water feels cold. It's no extra effort because there's usually
something to flush in the toilet* and there's usually a dish to rinse
or some hands to wash in the sink.

*we conserve via the "yellow, let it mellow; brown, flush it down"
method except when company is there.

%mod%