Nova Scotia Well being says it should pause testing water for chemical substances within the province’s central zone starting Monday on account of a worldwide scarcity of an unnamed chemical part used within the testing.
The well being authority stated it should reassess the scenario in three to 4 weeks.
Based on the province, greater than 40 per cent of Nova Scotia households get their ingesting water from wells. It encourages common testing.
The testing supplied by the well being authority’s environmental laboratory providers is for municipal, registered and personal water provide homeowners. Testing for micro organism will nonetheless be provided.
Linda Campbell, a Saint Mary’s College professor who previously served because the Canada Analysis Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Well being at Queen’s College, stated the testing is very essential in Nova Scotia as a result of arsenic happens naturally within the province’s geology.
“Groundwater typically turns into elevated in arsenic,” she stated in an e mail. “It’s a well being subject as a result of arsenic is carcinogenic.”
She stated using lead pipes and lead connections is one more reason why testing is crucial.
Campbell wasn’t stunned the explanation for the short-term shutdown was the scarcity of a chemical. She stated her analysis laboratory has been struggling to acquire the parts and chemical substances it wants at inexpensive costs.
“This can be a frequent expertise for all analytical laboratories,” she stated.
Nova Scotia Well being supplied a listing of other services for water testing, however famous these services could also be having related difficulties.
