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Link between lithium in drinking water, suicide rates confirmed
First-ever meta-analysis study revealed that higher lithium levels naturally occurring in drinking water are linked with lower levels of suicide mortality rate.
Link between lithium in drinking water, suicide rates confirmed. Photo: Artem Beliaikin/Unsplash
Lithium - the lightest of all solid elements - doesn't just power rechargeable batteries. Traces of lithium permeate virtually every rock on our planet, and are found in our food and water supply.
For decades, lithium has been an often life-saving medication for people with mood disorders, most notably bipolar, with a proven ability to stabilize moods and reduce the risk of suicide in these highly vulnerable patients.
The doses used in psychiatry are relatively high - at least 200 milligrams per day, and side-effects have to be carefully monitored. But some research has indicated that even microdoses of the element, just 400 micrograms daily, can produce an improvement in mood.
Since the 1990s, scientists have wondered whether the naturally occurring lithium in drinking water supplies across the world could produce effects at the level of the entire population - lower suicide rates, decreased violence, even less dementia.
Over the years, a slew of observational or ecological studies have hinted at an association between higher levels of lithium in the public water supply, and lower rates of suicide mortality in the local population.
Now, a team of researchers in the UK has produced the first-ever meta-analysis of such studies, confirming this link.
The team thoroughly searched the literature, ending up with 15 studies they used in a qualitative synthesis, narrowed down further for a meta-analysis of nine studies.
In total, their analysis comprised data from 1,286 localities across Japan, Austria, the US, England, Greece, Italy, and Lithuania. The mean lithium levels found in the drinking water samples ranged from just 3.8 micrograms per litre (μg/L) to 46.3 μg/L, with a few communities peaking above 80 μg/L.
An extensive crunch of the numbers revealed that higher lithium levels naturally occurring in drinking water were indeed linked with lower levels of suicide mortality in the area - what's known as an inverse association.
Of course, as with any complex analysis of the available literature, the results come with important caveats. The team emphasizes that ecological studies are conducted to generate hypotheses - rather than being an answer, they're basically just posing the question.
Details on social classes, the prevalence of mental disorders in a population, and even how much people move around can all affect the observational results, not to even mention the fact we also get lithium from our food - and that impact has not been investigated.
"Furthermore, bottled drinking water (processed/treated or natural mineral water from springs) often has a much higher lithium content than tap water – the association between exposure to lithium via bottled water and suicide has not been studied," the team notes. (Tasnim News Agency)
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