In Salt Lake City, Sot Conference Showcases Innovative Niehs Research

There's no such thing as safe drinking water in the US, according to a new study out of the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at the effects of drinking water containing more than 10 parts per trillion of arsenic, a known neurotoxin, on the brains of lab rats.

The rats were then exposed to the same amount of arsenic in drinking water as humans, and the researchers found that the amount of arsenic in the water rose with the level of the chemical in the rats' bodies, the Guardian reports.

They also found that the amount of arsenic in the water rose with the level of the chemical in the rats' urine.

The researchers say that while the study doesn't prove that the arsenic in the water causes any health problems for the rats, it points to the need for more research into the effects of drinking water containing more than 10 parts per trillion of arsenic.

The study was one of 12 major SOT awards handed out at this year's annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology in Salt Lake City, according to the NIEHS, which notes that more than 5,000 toxicologists and professionals from the US and around the world were at the conference

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