Thursday, October 20, 2005

Any Excuse to Overreact


A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. A lot of people with a little bit of knowledge, health insurance, law degrees, court systems and an inability to keep parts per million in perspective can be an expensive thing.
Madison finds Manganese in City Water: The Madison Water Utility has issued a number of health advisories in attempts to assuage fears of the manganese levels, which it says pose no health threats.
Madison is issuing health advisories because there is NO KNOWN DANGER from the naturally occurring essential element manganese in potable water, because why expose the city to any liability if there is any conceivable POTENTIAL risk.
While Water Utility officials maintain that the water is safe, and no studies have proven that manganese is harmful in the concentrations detected in the area, a private physician with a patient in Nakoma sounded an alarm to the Madison Public Health Department.
A teenager gets twitchy, is examined by a series of specialists who think his magnesium levels may be out of the normal range so they write a letter to the municipal government. Mayor Dave wants to Madison to be the Healthiest City in America so the Water Department starts planning to replace equipment. I mean it’s not like magnesium is also in the food.
The highest level of manganese ever reported in unstained Madison city water was 719 micrograms per liter, but a repeat sample taken at the same site showed a level of 11 micrograms per liter, the Madison Health Department reported. As the department noted, a quarter cup of pecans has 2,700 micrograms of manganese; a cup of oatmeal has 2,700 micrograms of the mineral.
OK, maybe it is also in food, but no teenager eats too much oatmeal. Besides, this is America and people that age should be drinking Coca Cola and not tap water.