[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Has your town’s water supply or your private well been tested and found to have elevated levels of manganese? Here’s what we know about how manganese levels in water may affect health.
What is manganese?
Manganese is a naturally occurring mineral found in many foods. It’s an essential mineral involved in bone formation, blood clotting and immune system function. Also found in rocks and soil, it can dissolve in groundwater and make its way into drinking water supplies, sometimes at high concentrations.
While our bodies need small amounts of manganese, in larger amounts research suggests it can
cause issues with cognitive function, especially for developing brains.
How much manganese is too much?
The
RDA for manganese is 2.3 mg for men and 1.8 mg for women. Young children and infants need far less. Foods such as whole grains, nuts, legumes and tea provide adequate manganese in the typical American diet.
The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements reports that
few Americans are deficient in manganese and do not require supplementation. Nonetheless, you may find manganese included in many multivitamins, sometimes at doses well above the RDA.
Donald Smith, an environmental toxicologist at University of California Santa Cruz who studies the health effects of manganese, reports that adult bodies regulate manganese levels quite effectively and excrete excess when it’s consumed in the diet. However, Smith cautions, infants aren’t able to manage excess manganese in the same way. “We think infants are much more vulnerable to elevated exposure to manganese as well as other elements like lead,” he says, “because they’re absorbing more and retaining more of what they absorb compared to older individuals.”
Excess manganese and the developing brain
Combined with their increased retention of manganese, young children’s developmental life stage makes them especially susceptible to the effects of excess manganese. Smith explains that “Because infants and young children are undergoing rapid, very important developmental processes, it’s a little like a perfect storm of susceptibility.” Excess manganese in their systems may affect how children’s brains form, leading to persistent conditions, such as ADHD and
other cognitive effects. These effects are not reversible, Smith reports, though symptoms may be managed with medication.
The findings of a Canadian study of children living in homes with elevated levels of manganese in drinking water “suggest that
manganese exposure from drinking water is metabolized differently than that from the diet” and is likely not excreted as effectively as excess manganese we get from food. Additionally, exposure to airborne manganese bypasses the body’s mechanisms for ridding the body of excess manganese.
Study authors found “that children exposed to higher concentration of manganese in tap water had lower IQ scores” and posit that elevated levels of manganese in drinking water “can lead to overload and subsequent neurotoxic effects expressed by intellectual impairments.”
Additional studies in other parts of the world also found
correlations between excess manganese and neurological effects such as lower IQ scores and decreased working memory. A longitudinal study of over 640,000 children in Denmark “found that exposure to increasing levels of Mn in drinking water was associated with an
increased risk of ADHD-Inattentive subtype.”
Supporting the findings of such population-based studies, studies using rodents have sought to demonstrate a causal relationship between early manganese exposure and the development of neurological disorders. Smith’s 2017 study showed that rats given excess manganese orally as newborns developed “
lasting attentional dysfunction.”
Limiting manganese exposure
Though the Environmental Protection Agency has
no enforceable standard for manganese in drinking water, it has issued a health advisory for anyone under one year old consuming tap water with concentrations above 100 micrograms per liter. For individuals over the age of one, 300 micrograms per liter is currently considered the upper limit before a health advisory is issued.
While any infant consuming tap water with elevated levels of manganese may be at risk for excessive exposure, the greatest concern is for formula-fed infants whose formula is made with tap water high in manganese. Smith points out that
soy-based formulas may have hundreds of times the levels of manganese found in breast milk, leading to still greater overexposure for babies at a critical period of brain development.
Smith notes that the levels set by the EPA are to some degree dictated by aesthetic concerns like taste and color rather than possible effects on health, but other health organizations have issued
guidelines calling for lower levels. Health Canada, for example, currently
sets the upper limit for manganese in water at 120 micrograms per liter and the European Union recommends just 50.
Because infancy is such a critical time for brain development, what Smith calls “environmental insults” like excess manganese can alter the way the brain forms, with lifelong consequences. The importance of protecting children during this critical developmental period is a key reason health experts warn about the dangers of
heavy metals in baby food and
toxins in toys.
An estimated five to seven percent of private wells in the United States have manganese levels above 300 micrograms per liter. A 2021 EPA survey of over 5000 large public water supplies found that about two percent had levels above the “health advisory” level of 100 micrograms per liter, some with concentrations several times higher. Their survey included just a fraction of the more than
148,000 public water systems in the United States.
Little is currently known about possible health effects of long-term consumption of water high in manganese for adults, though some studies of elevated levels of manganese in the air have found effects on adults’ cognitive function and motor control. As with other airborne pollutants like those found in
wildfire smoke, inhaled manganese can interfere with brain function.
Brad Racette, MD, FAAN, Chairman of Neurology at Barrow Neurological Institute, has studied adults with exposure to elevated levels of airborne manganese and found “motor and cognitive symptoms in workers and people in communities who are exposed to manganese.” Motor symptoms of airborne manganese exposure, Racette says, “include slowness, stiffness, gait instability, and tremor, and cognitive symptoms include difficulty with complex cognitive tasks. People exposed to very high manganese levels can experience hallucinations, paranoia, and mood disorders.”
How to know if there’s too much manganese in your water
Public water systems are not required to test for or remove excessive levels of manganese, though some municipalities are taking steps to do so.
You may be able to find out about the manganese levels in your municipal water report or by contacting your city’s offices. The
tap water database maintained by the Environmental Working Group may note elevated manganese levels if tests have been done by your municipality. An
interactive map using data from the Environmental Protection Agency may provide additional information about elevated manganese levels.
You can also get your home’s tap water tested by an accredited water testing lab. Your state’s department of health should be able to connect you to accredited labs in your area.
What to do if your tap water is high in manganese
The primary concern is ingesting too much manganese over a period of time, especially during critical points in development. Showering or washing with water high in manganese is not considered a health risk.
If you have a young child, it’s advisable not to let them drink water you know is high in manganese. Elderly individuals likewise should avoid ingesting water with higher levels of manganese.
Installing a water filter that can remove manganese is a good idea, especially if you have infants and young children in your household.
You can install one that attaches to your kitchen water supply or use a freestanding countertop filter.
If you choose a reverse-osmosis filter, be sure you understand the trade-offs. Reverse osmosis systems take everything out of the water, contaminants as well as beneficial minerals. Consider
remineralizing your water if you decide to go this route.
Water softeners may also remove manganese, though most water softeners are not connected to drinking water taps because of their impact on flavor.
Manganese is just one of scores of possible contaminants in public water supplies. Whether or not you have elevated manganese,
filtering your water is a wise move to make
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