WASHINGTON — Researchers have revealed that anthrax spores may survive traditional drinking water disinfection methods, according to a Feb. 17 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) press release.
Researchers convened recently at the 2006 ASM Biodefense Research Meeting to determine the fate of anthrax spores in a drinking water system that uses chlorine as a disinfectant, the release said.
According to the statement, the report suggests that water treatment facilities should be prepared to employ alternate disinfection methods (such as exposure to higher concentrations of chlorine or an alternate disinfectant for an extended period of time) in the unlikely event of the release of anthrax into the water supply.
"The data seem to suggest that anthrax spores can tolerate water treatment, can attach to pipes or biofilms within the pipes, and could pass through pipe systems to reach the consumer tap," Jon Calomiris of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, MD, said in the release.
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