Plastic pipes could contaminate water
Volatile organic compounds can leach from HDPE plastic pipes and have the potential to reach high concentrations in water.
Volatile organic compounds can seep into water from high-density polyethylene pipes used in water-distribution systems, sewers, and storm drains, finds a study from Princeton University. Mechanical engineering professor Wole Soboyejo found that the volatile organic compound (VOC) contamination increases with temperature and time. The levels can become high enough to raise concerns about public health and the environment.
Soboyejo tested various high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe samples kept in distilled water at temperatures of 4, 40, and 65 °C over 2 months. After the pipes were in the water for 60 days at 65 °C, the VOC level in the water reached about 2.8 parts per million. “Such high levels of VOCs are already in a regime that has been shown to be toxic to aquatic animals and potentially toxic to humans,” he writes in the study.
