[homebrewer (OP)]

The German public is just waking up to the fact, that high oestrogen levels in drinking water might affect male fertility.

Many many years ago I was involved at a water treatment plant/ water works in Germany,  which used large so called "Jod Filter" Iodide filters to remove oestrogenic compounds from drinking water.   But have since lost contacts.

Are their any UK guide lines in respect of permissible levels of estrogen in UK drinking water?

Do you know of any lab which will test for the "oestrogenenicity" of drinking water?

Thank you.

[chris]

Scientists are following these effects, and not just in drinking water but in terms of other sources too.

In a recent podcast we spoke with Aberdeen University's Paul Fowler about his study into animal exposure to oestrogen-like compounds.

[homebrewer (OP)]

Thanking you for your kind reply, it has been much appreciated.

[alancalverd]

AFAIK public water utilities used to test for oestrogen but as it isn't toxic, I doubt that privatised utilities bother.

[Bored chemist]

There are so many oestrogenic chemicals (both natural and artificial) that testing for all of them is impractical.
Some of them fall into specific categories that are tested for- like pesticides or drugs.
Chlorination of water will destroy some of them.
One characteristic of oestrogen mimics is that they are big "sticky" molecules so any charcoal filter will remove them if you are determined to spend your money on something that's probably not really a problem.

[homebrewer (OP)]

Thank you for your kind consideration and your informative reply.

I think the big problem is right now, that their is no clearly defined standard by the WHO,
which clearly defines the analytical techniques to investigate residual oestrogenic chemicals
in drinking water.

All I would like to do, is to compare drinking water samples from the mayor cities of the globe and have
those samples tested for oestrogen chemicals  by a reputable lab.

Thanking you.

[alancalverd]

Worth a go, as today's unsurprising news is that western males are losing fertility. Might be interesting to compare east London water, which has been through several use cycles, with New York, which I believe is piped in from effectively a single source. 

[homebrewer (OP)]

Thank you for your kind reply.

In your first reply to this subject you mentioned and I quote:
"AFAIK public water utilities used to test for oestrogen but as it isn't toxic, I doubt that privatised utilities bother."
This is very much what I have found years ago, communicating with many water works from around the globe.

I suppose "Feedwater" is one of the fine UK labs, which undertakes a potable water analysis, but their are many more
labs in France and Germany which can undertake this type of work. To move this project on, requires crowd funding and somebody with a scientific knowledge in bio chemistry, to write a test specification.

I do not wish to be misunderstood, but my proposal is it to draw a "European potable water quality map" first, but not one specifically aimed at the UK.