In the previous study we reported that human cells could grow in vitro in Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium dissolved in tap water. In the course of subsequent experiments to further confirm those results we noticed that some tap water was cytotoxic. Thus we carried out the present study to learn what factors in the tap water were cytotoxic, using an established human liver cell line (OUMS-29). As a result, we found that the cytotoxicity was dependent on the date of the water sampling and that remaining chlorine in the tap water was not a culprit of cell killersr. In addition, even the tap water that showed cototoxic effects on the colony formation of cells showed little cytotoxicity when the cells were confluent in culture. Taken together, we can conclude that the tap water is not so harmful to our body, though the long-term effects of the water on us remain to be determined.
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