This was done in Denmark,scary.
Anyone have PEX water pipes in their house. I have copper, but the fridge cold water is plastic.
I dont drink from it though,but do use the ice. How about
the plastic water filters in the fridge.
Perhaps not good.
Old Mike
Curr Microbiol. 2014 Apr;68(4):428-39. doi: 10.1007/s00284-013-0493-4. Epub 2013 Nov 23.
Mycobacterium avium complex in day care hot water systems, and persistence of live cells and DNA in hot water pipes.
Bukh AS1, Roslev P.
Author information
1Section of Biology and Environmental Science, Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Aalborg University, Sohngaardsholmsvej 57, 9000, Alborg, Denmark.
Abstract I am copper
The Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is a group of opportunistic human pathogens that may thrive in engineered water systems. MAC has been shown to occur in drinking water supplies based on surface water, but less is known about
the occurrence and persistence of live cells and DNA in public hot water systems based on groundwater. In this study, we examined the occurrence of MAC in hot water systems of public day care centers and determined the persistence of live and dead M. avium cells and naked DNA in model systems with the modern plumbing material cross-linked polyethylene (PEX). The occurrence of MAC and co-occurrence of Legionella spp. and Legionella pneumophila were determined using cultivation and qPCR. Co-occurrences of MAC and Legionella were detected in water and/or biofilms in all hot water systems at temperatures between 40 and 54 °C. Moderate correlations were observed between abundance of culturable MAC and that of MAC genome copies, and between MAC and total eubacterial genome copies. No quantitative relationship was observed between occurrence of Legionella and that of MAC. Persistence in hot water of live and dead M. avium cells and naked DNA was studied using PEX laboratory model systems at 44 °C. Naked DNA and DNA in dead M. avium cells persisted for weeks. Live M. avium increased tenfold in water and biofilms on PEX. The results suggest that water and biofilms in groundwater-based hot water systems can constitute reservoirs of MAC, and that amplifiable naked DNA is relatively short-lived, whereas PEX plumbing material supports persistence and proliferation of M. avium.
Post Edited (Old Mike) : 2/28/2017 8:55:40 AM (GMT-7)