Lithium in Drinking Water as a Public Policy for Suicide Prevention: Relevance and Considerations.
February 17, 2022
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Frontiers in Public Health
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Araya P, Martínez C, Barros J.
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Although suicide is considered a major preventable cause of mortality worldwide, we do not have effective strategies to prevent it. Lithium has been consistently associated with lowering risk of suicide. This effect could occur at very low concentrations, such as trace doses of lithium in tap water. Several ecological studies and recent meta-analysis have suggested an inverse association between lithium in water and suicide in the general population, with a lack of knowledge of clinically si