EPA Confirms: There IS Lithium in El Paso Water

One of the first things I heard about El Paso when I moved here 32 years ago, had to do with the city drinking water.

“People are so chill in El Paso because we have lithium in our water”, they would say. “It says so in the movie The Stepford Wives”, was also a talking point. In that movie, Paula Prentiss’ character refers to “Texas Tranquilizer” where something in the water turned everyone in El Paso into placid, non-violent peaceniks.

But, is this just a fictional plotline, or is there really something to it?

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency clarified that there IS lithium in El Paso’s water.  El Paso Water CEO John Balliew told El Paso Matters, “Lithium is ubiquitous in El Paso’s water. I don’t think there’s a spot that doesn’t have it.”

Here’s the good news: lithium is naturally occurring and is about a thousand times lower than a therapeutic dose would be. Lithium has been used for decades as a mood stabilizer and treatment for mental health disorders and depression.  Further, a study by the National Institutes of Health suggests that places that have trace amounts of lithium in their drinking supply show a “moderating effect on suicidal and violent criminal behaviors”.

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Long story short, the NIH thinks low doses of lithium are generally beneficial and might even explain why El Paso has a lower crime rate, especially violent crime, than cities of similar size.

This reminds me of a short story I once read by Stephen King. It’s called “The End of the Whole Mess” in his 1993 “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” collection. In that story, a scientist discovers a town in Texas that has no violent crime. The town is called La Plata and is obviously, I think, a stand-in for El Paso.

The scientist figures out a way to give the whole world a dose (using a super-volcano or something as a delivery system. The plan works! The entire world population has become less aggressive and more peace-loving. And then after a few months, the side effects start. The chemical works TOO well. People become peaceful but they also suffer rapid cognitive decline causing dementia-like symptoms. Eventually, humanity devolves into drooling incoherence and the entire human race dies out.

Here’s the link for the Wikipedia article on that short story that I’d bet anything is based on the El Paso/lithium mythos:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_the_Whole_Mess.