Can softening water prevent eczema?
A January 29th story in the Nottingham (UK) Daily Mail eported that researchers at Nottingham Universit in the UK recently published a study of 7,000 children found that eczema was 54% more prevalent in areas with the hardest water supplies. They have launched a new trial where 310 children aged between six months and 16 years will have ion-exchange water-softening equipment installed in their homes for between four and 12 weeks.
In its story on the British development, WaterTechOnline reminded readers of its 1998 story about research published in The Lancet where 17.5% of children in hard water areas had had eczema in the past year and 25.4% are estimated to have lifetime ecema, compared to soft-water areas with 12% in a yar and 21.2% lifetime.