Toxic Drinking Water in 43 States, Affecting 100 Million Americans

A new Environmental Working Group analysis of 2011 water quality tests by 201 large U.S. municipal water systems that serve more than 100 million people in 43 states has determined that all are polluted with unwanted toxic chemicals called trihalomethanes. These chemicals, an unintended side effect of chlorination, elevate the risks of bladder cancer, miscarriages and other serious ills.  

“Many people are likely exposed to far higher concentrations of trihalomethanes than anyone really knows,” said Renee Sharp, a senior scientist at EWG and co-author of the analysis. “For most water systems, trihalomethane contamination fluctuates from month to month, sometimes rising well beyond the legal limit set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.”

Trihalomethanes are formed when chlorine, added to treated water as a disinfectant, reacts with rotting organic matter such as farm runoff, sewage or dead animals and vegetation.  Their concentrations tend to rise when storms increase organic pollution in waters that serve as sources for tap water.

Scientists suspect that trihalomethanes in drinking water may cause thousands of cases of bladder cancer every year. These chemicals also have been linked to colon and rectal cancer, miscarriages, birth defects and low birth weight.  

Only one of the systems studied by EWG – Davenport, Iowa – exceeded the EPA’s upper legal limit of 80 parts per billion of trihalomethanes in drinking water.  Since that regulation was issued in 1998, a significant body of scientific research has developed evidence that these chemicals cause serious disorders at much lower concentrations.  Among the research are two Taiwanese studies conducted in 2007 and 2012 that associated increased risks of bladder cancer and stillbirth to long-term consumption of tap water with trihalomethane contamination greater than 21 parts per billion.  Some 168 of systems, or 84 percent of the 201 large systems studied, reported average annual concentrations greater than that level. 

California public health officials reviewed the research around trihalomethane contamination in 2010 and determined that to reduce the risk of bladder cancer to no more than 1 in a million, the drinking water standard would need to be set at 0.8 parts per billion, which is 100 times lower than the current legal limit set by EPA.

“New science makes a compelling case for stronger regulations and a stricter legal limit,” Sharp said.  

The EPA regulates four members of the trihalomethane family, the best known of which is chloroform, once used as an anesthetic and, in pulp detective stories, to knock out victims. Today, the U.S. government classifies chloroform as a “probable” human carcinogen. California health officials consider it a “known” carcinogen.  The EPA does not regulate hundreds of other types of toxic contaminants formed by water treatment chemicals.  Among these unregulated but dangerous chemicals are nitrosamines, which are formed when a chloramine, a chlorine compound used for water treatment, reacts with organic matter.  In 2010, then-EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson launched a drinking water initiative that committed the agency to investigate nitrosamine contamination.   The U.S. government considers some chemicals in the nitrosamine family to be "reasonably anticipated" to be human carcinogens.

Clean source water is critical to breaking this cycle. The EPA has found that every dollar spent to protect source water reduced water treatment costs by an average of $27 dollars.

“We must do a better job of keeping farm runoff, sewage and other pollutants from getting into our drinking water in the first place,” said Sharp. “By failing to do so, Congress, the EPA, and polluters leave no choice for water utilities but to treat dirty water with chemical disinfectants. Americans are left to drink dangerous residual chemicals generated by the treatment process.”

EWG is calling on federal officials to:

· Reform farm policies to provide more funds to programs designed to keep agriculture pollutants, such as manure, fertilizer, pesticides, and soil out of tap water.

· Renew the conservation compliance provision by tying wetland and soil protection requirements to crop insurance programs and requiring farm businesses who receive subsidies to update their conservation plans.

· Strengthen and adequately fund conservation programs that reward farmers who take steps to protect sources of drinking water.

· Fund more research on the identity of and toxicological profiles for hundreds of water treatment contaminants in drinking water.

· Reevaluate the measurement of water treatment contaminants so that consumers cannot be legally exposed to spikes of toxic chemicals.

· Expand source water protection programs to prevent and reduce pollution and to conserve land in buffer zones around public water supplies.

To reduce exposure to trihalomethane and many other pollutants in drinking water, EWG recommends consumers use a water filter system. EWG has released its online water filter guide, which helps consumers figure out which filter is best for themselves and their families. 

Originally Posted On: http://www.ewg.org/release/more-100-million-americans-exposed-toxic-trash-drinking-water

______________________________________

States With the Most Toxic Tap Water:

1. California
2. Wisconsin
3. North Carolina
4. Florida
5. Texas
6. New York
7. Nevada
8. Pennsylvania
9. Ohio
10. New Mexico

"With 40 percent of U.S. community water systems in violation of the Safe Water Drinking Act, which sets drinking-water quality standards and is directly linked to the Clean Water Act, 23 million people received low-quality drinking water. "

"North Carolina- In this state, 6.1 million citizens were exposed to 59 contaminants that exceeded the EPA's limits. Nitrate, which can have a negative impact on kidneys, blood, the heart and the reproductive systems, was the most common contaminant.

The suspected carcinogen enters water through fertilizer runoff, leaching septic tanks and erosion of natural deposits. 

Bromodichloromethane showed up in amounts that exceeded health limits in 373 communities, exposing 5 million people to potentially dangerous amounts of the toxic compound."

The EPA's Web site provides directions for finding out more information about your drinking water: 

"262d7qCpv_QSkn4CYWOB1BWjlNg", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/sdwis/sdwis_findwatersystem.html

Water filter discussion: 

"262d7T71e5H4uOGoG_kytBgI4Wg", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1139875

Are You Drinking Contaminated Tap Water?: 

"262d7NX9eekVNeAV9i7ocPDTR0w", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.aolhealth.com/2009/10/30/pollution-water-effects/

Depending upon which contaminants you are trying to remove and your price point, the alternatives vary greatly. To just remove chlorine is probably not sufficient, since many excreted and flushed medications are in city water. Apparently, they do not remove medication from city water. Plus, some do/don't remove fluoride. 

So, distillation is the most effective, but not really home use friendly. Reverse osmosis probably does about the same job, and has a lot of filter issues and cost, maintenance and installation. Might be overkill, if you are on healthy well water. But, if you have your own water tested, or read the government's city water reports, you could gauge more accurately which type of chemical removal you need.

This thread discusses the filtration issues and the concerns with removing minerals concurrently: 

"262d7Q0L-g5hbT0cJe9T0IbBaxw", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=1139875

I really don't believe that most home water filtration systems remove BPA and Phthalates, unfortunately. My understanding is that an RO system may. Yes, this seems to indicate RO does remove phythalates: 

"262d7kACk_U-1-gT3k-CY9PX35w", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TFX-4CNGSBG-X&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F10%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor&view=c&_searchStrId=1372747196&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=875fd787431d92291218b676d60c6688

Seems you need a carbon filter to remove BPA...
and others report no filtration system will remove the BPA and that water is a minor source of BPA compared to other contaminants in our food supply with BPA. 

Environmental Toxins in Drinking Water: Phthalates
- Phthalates are found in our drinking water, air, and food all over the world.

Researchers estimated that more than 75% of the U.S. population is exposed to phthalates. Starting as early as the 1950s, scientists have published research findings in peer-reviewed academic and science journals on human and animal exposure to phthalates and their wide variety of health problems, as follows:

• Infertility (especially among men)
• Cancers (e.g., liver, breast, prostate, testicular, colon)
• Autoimmune diseases (e.g., lupus)
• Fertility problems (e.g., low sperm count, poor mobility of sperm, DNA damage in sperm, lower testosterone level, and ovarian dysfunction)
• Obesity, resistance to insulin, and diabetes in men
• Smaller testes and smaller genitals on average among male babies exposed to phthalates in mothers' wombs
• Asthma
• "Feminization" of male fish, frogs, and other amphibians living in phthalates-contaminated
  rivers in the wild

What Are Phthalates and Where Are They Found?
Phthalates are a class of synthetic chemical compounds used widely as softeners in many plastic products (or commonly called as "plasticizers" in plastics) and other consumer products, as follows:

• All polyvinyl chloride plastics (PVCs), including PVC plastic bags and PVC pipes
• Pharmaceutical products and medical devices (e.g., tubes, PVC blood bags, dialysis
  equipment, disposable medical examination and sterile surgical vinyl gloves)
• Cosmetics, perfumes, and other beauty products (e.g., face cream, nail polish)
• Personal care products (e.g., lotion, shampoo, soaps)
• Children's soft-squeeze plastic toys
• Baby's pacifiers, infants' teething rings
• Common household products (e.g., shower curtains, raincoats)
• Industrial lubricants
• Building products (e.g., carpet backing, putty, caulk)
• Solvents in glues and other adhesives, paints, and wood finishes
• As the inert ingredient in pesticides and insect repellents
• Food packaging
• Sex toys (specifically the so-called jelly rubber toys)

Avoid Phthalates in Your Drinking Water and Food

For your health and your family's health, it is best to avoid all plastic containers—both for water and food—labeled #3 PVC and all containers containing phthalates. It is best to use glass or stainless-steel food and water bottles and containers when bottling your own filtered water at home. It is difficult to avoid phthalates in this world even if you want to, so do not voluntarily ingest more phthalates by using phthalate-containing water bottles and food containers!

http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality2/envtoxin-ph...

Apparently, reverse osmosis water filters will remove phythlates. BUT, RO tanks are lined with BPA! ! ! !
"262d7qkRo7yjw-HyE8sFCsVlxwg", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality2/envtoxin-phthalates1-quality.htm

Here are some further resources: "262d7B1EOTHExkCYNYXLsDft8Ug", event);' rel="nofollow" target="_blank"'>http://www.nsf.org/consumer/drinking_water/index.asp?program=WaterTre

I normally don't use blogs, but this article was well made.

Originally Posted On: http://heal-thyself.ning.com/profiles/blogs/toxic-water