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The Mayo Clinic warns against the use of tap water in a humidifier:

Use distilled or demineralized water. Tap water contains minerals that can create deposits inside your humidifier that promote bacterial growth. And, when released into the air, these minerals often appear as white dust on your furniture. You may also breathe in some minerals that are dispersed into the air. Distilled or demineralized water has a much lower mineral content compared with tap water. In addition, use demineralization cartridges or filters if recommended by the manufacturer.

What are the dangers of breathing minerals that are dispersed into the air?

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Pathologies due to mineral inhalation are a broad spectrum of diseases called pneumoconiosis. You can read about it here in Wikipedia.

The type of disease is different regarding different minerals, and this reflects to the treatment approach.

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    Welcome to health SE :-). While Wikipedia is acceptable for providing the definitions for the terminology used, it is not acceptable as a reliable reference for the main claim of the answer. See more about it in Susan's and rumtscho's answer in: Is Wikipedia a reliable source?. For a recommendation of reliable references, please see: What are reliable sources?. Thanks!
    – Lucky
    Feb 13, 2016 at 16:29

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