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It is highly recommended for people to test for pesticides in their drinking water even if they live deep in urbanized areas and far away from farmland. That is because pesticides can seep into the soil and travel to other areas.

Pesticides can cause various health problems when ingested along with drinking water. Among the illnesses that pesticides cause when absorbed by the body are:

• Allergic skin reactions such as rashes, acne, blisters and swelling
• Swelling of the mucous membranes of the eyes, mouth and nose
• Shortness or rapidity of breathing due to injuries to the lungs
• Diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and other gastrointestinal discomforts
• Muscular twitching, lethargy, excessive fatigue and headaches from damage to the nerves

You can only know if your drinking water is contaminated by pesticides if you test it. The testing can be done at home using a water testing kit. Samples can also be sent to a state-accredited laboratory.

10 Common Pesticides Tested in Drinking Water

Below is a list of the ten pesticides that are most prevalent in the water we use for drinking. Some of these pesticides have been banned in the United States, they can still emerge in drinking water tests because pesticides can take as much as 50 years to contaminate water.

Chlordane. Prior to its regulation, chlordane was primarily used as a pesticide for corn, citrus fruits, nuts, vegetables, and ornamental garden plants. Nowadays, chlordane is only allowable for use to kill fire ants on power transformers.

DDT. DDT, which is short for Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane, was popular during the Second World War as an insecticide, often used against mosquitoes causing malaria. After the war, it became a popular pesticide. It was later on discovered to be toxic and was thus banned.

Dieldrin. Dieldrin was once manufactured as an alternative to DDT. While it is not toxic, it is considered to be an organic pollutant and is linked to diseases like Parkinson’s disease and breast cancer. It was banned.

Endosulfan. Endosulfan is a highly toxic pesticide that is still being used in countries like Australia, India and New Zealand. Its use mainly lies in wood preservation and control of pests destroying ornamental plants and agricultural crops.

Endrin. Endrin is an insecticide used to inhibit grasshoppers, voles, mice and other pests from ravaging cotton, cereals, rice and other crops. It was banned in 1980.

Heptachlor. Heptachlor was once considered as a non-agricultural pesticide, although its use is now limited to making underground cables and power transformers fire ant-proof.

Lindane. Although regulated, Lindane has seen use for killing wood-eating beetles and for treating soil in gardens. Lindane is also a component for treatments in killing fleas and lice on pets.

Mirex. Mirex is mainly used to control ants and to make items such as plastic, paper, rubber and electronics resistant to fire.

Toxaphene. Toxaphene is still in use to manage pests in cotton fields and vegetable farms, as well as on poultry and livestock. Its use is highly regulated, however.

Trifluralin. Currently one of the most common chemicals still in use in farms today, trifluralin is mainly an herbicide used to kill weeds and other unwanted plants.

If you think your water supply is compromised, go for a drinking water test. Contact your local authorities for help if your drinking water is found to be contaminated by pesticides.

It is only natural when diagnosed with colitis or during a period of severe symptoms that the sufferer worries about their health and what the future will hold for them. It is usual for most sufferers to enjoy longer periods of health in comparison to the time endured at the mercy of colitis symptoms. Yet this fact does not prevent real concern and worry over their present and future health.

There requires acknowledgment and appreciation that the severity of colitis symptoms varies greatly between sufferers. Approximately ten percent of those diagnosed have to endure what are virtually ever present symptoms which do vary in their intensity. Thinking that the symptoms will never disappear when first diagnosed is in the vast majority of cases untrue. For most sufferers there will be periods that symptoms are present yet these will be outnumbered by the amount of time spent enjoying full health.

There is a misplaced fear that everyone knows when someone is suffering symptoms and they will be viewed as different. Again this is not the case. When a relapse is occurring, the person should in fact withdraw from daily life, both their work and social life, in order to give themselves every chance to gain health again as soon as possible. If the daily routine is continued without any regard to the symptoms, this will undoubtedly have the effect of delaying the recovery and can even worsen the degree of suffering.

When diagnosed with colitis and periodically thereafter, there will be a requirement for a hospital consultant to monitor the extent of the ulceration of the large colon and this will require forms of x-ray to be undertaken. It is important to understand that the severity of what is witnessed with such tests will not necessarily correspond to how severe the subjective symptoms are. If there is a lot of ulceration present though the person is currently enjoying good health, that does not suggest symptoms are about to appear. The test will show the extent of the affected area of the colon yet as the symptoms are in remission, good health should be enjoyed. The information gathered will be of use as and when the next relapse occurs and then appropriate medication can be used to concentrate on the known area and extent of the ulceration.

Unfortunately a few sufferers do experience perforation of the bowel where a split forms in the colon and toxic waste can then spread into the bloodstream and cause infection. This only happens in a very small number of cases and only when severe symptoms have occurred over a period of time and the sufferer has not responded to the treatments for such complications. Any fear caused through expecting this to happen is misplaced as it is a fallacy to believe for all colitis sufferers that it will only be a matter of time before surgery is required and the bowel has to be cut out. The actual chances of this occurring are very small indeed yet by worrying and being fearful of this may just ignite sleeping colitis symptoms.

Whilst the disease can be very challenging at times, the sufferer, in the vast majority of cases, should enjoy long periods of good health. Colitis symptoms will appear when relapses happen yet by following the instructions given by doctors and hospital consultants and by discovering the knowledge and experience of those fellow sufferers, a person should be able to adapt their life accordingly and ease many of the often misplaced fears that have built up over time.