Hot Tap Water Burns Thousands Of Americans Every Year—Even Killing Some. Researchers Say There Is A Cheap Fix

Topline

Hot tap water seriously burns tens of thousands of Americans every year, according to research published in Injury Prevention on Tuesday, a costly drain on public resources researchers say could easily be prevented by installing cheap and readily available components on water heaters.

Key Facts

There were nearly 60,000 injuries from tap water scald burns needing hospital care in the U.S. from 2016 through 2018, researchers said, according to an analysis of national healthcare databases.

The figure identifies more than 52,000 visits to the emergency department and 7,270 hospital admissions as a result of scald burns from hot tap water, the researchers said, adding that 110 people died as a direct result of tap water burns during the same time span.

Overall, healthcare costs from tap water burns cost nearly $240 million over the three years studied, the researchers estimated, around $80 million a year.

More than half of these costs, 54%, are paid for by public insurance, the researchers said, suggesting poor and elderly people are disproportionately affected by scald burns.

Installing thermostatic mixing valves—a device that retails for around $30 and mixes hot heater water with cold water before it reaches the faucet—could drastically reduce the number of burns from tap water, the researchers said, and would only add around $100 to the cost of a water heater installation.

The researchers called on policymakers to revise building codes to require their use or for manufacturers to include them as an integral component in heaters.

What We Don’t Know

The estimated costs of hot water scald burns only cover the immediate healthcare bill from hospitals and does not include the costs of follow-on care like rehab, drugs and infection treatment, the researchers said. It also doesn’t consider the less tangible societal costs associated with burns, such as lost productivity, pain and suffering.

Key Background

Scalds are injuries caused by contact with very hot liquid or steam. They can be very serious, even life threatening, and people who have been burned are also vulnerable to other issues like infection, dehydration and shock. According to the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, most adults will suffer third-degree burns after just two seconds exposure to 150 degree water. Exposure to water at lower temperatures can still cause serious burns in a relatively short amount of time and the agency said burns will occur following a six-second exposure to 140 degree water, a 30-second exposure to 130 degree water and a five-minute exposure to 120 degree water. The majority of injuries and deaths involving tap water scalds are in the elderly and children under the age of five, it added.

Tangent

The researchers said the U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to implementing “inexpensive and effective prevention strategies” to prevent tap water scalds. Though efforts to combat the problem have been implemented in the U.S.—such as requirements for language warning of hot water, manufacturers voluntarily adopting a 120 degree preset temperature standard and efforts to educate the public—the researchers said tap water scalds have remained a “serious and costly public health” problem.

Big Number

1 in 4. That’s how many scald burns in the U.S. are caused by tap water, the researchers said.

Further Reading

We sampled tap water across the US – and found arsenic, lead and toxic chemicals (Guardian)