Influence of drinking water–tap versus purified–on embryo and fetal development in mice

Abstract

Pregnant CD‐1 mice drank either chlorinated tap water obtained at NIEHS from the City of Durham, North Carolina municipal water supply or this same water passed in sequence through an organic removal cartridge and a demineralizer, followed by glass distillation. No significant overall differences in the reproductive status of pregnant mice were noted wnen the two groups were compared. Similarly, no significant overall influence on the incidence of malformed fetuses could be traced to the purity of drinking water. Month by month comparisons indicated that there were three statistically significant differences; all of which indicated improved performance for the mice that drank tap water. When the results for both groups were combined and a month by month comparison was made there was a significant difference in the pregnancy rate for February (68%) as compared with an overall pregnancy rate of 80% and a 79‐93% spread for the other months, but the decrease was due to the low incidence of pregnancy in the group that drank the purified water.