What's in your water?
Six million Americans are , according to a new study.
The chemicals, called polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances (or PFASs), have been found by some studies to contribute to a health problems, 聽(EPA). After several highly publicized water crises over the past 12 months, including Flint, Mich., some experts say the key to improving water quality lies in better regulation.
鈥淭he way in which drinking water regulations are promulgated is a very slow and deliberate process,鈥� says David Sedlak, the editor-in-chief of the journal in which the study was published, Environmental Science & Technology Letters. 鈥淭here needs to be a credible regulatory response to this problem.鈥�
PFASs have been used for about six decades in many products, including food wrappers, non-stick cookware, and to make聽upholstered furniture, carpets and clothing resistant to soil, stains and water.聽While some manufacturers have discontinued their use, many people are still exposed each year, most via drinking water.
鈥淔or many years, chemicals with unknown toxicities, such as PFASs, were allowed to be used and released to the environment,鈥� in a Chan School press release, 鈥渁nd we now have to face the severe consequences.鈥�
鈥淚n addition, the actual number of people exposed may be even higher than our study found,鈥� Dr. Hu added, 鈥渂ecause government data for levels of these compounds in drinking water is lacking for almost a third of the US population 鈥撀燼bout 100 million people.鈥�
Researchers used 36,000 samples collected between 2013 and 2015 to test for six different types of PFASs. They also studied sites where products containing PFASs are manufactured or used, including airports and industrial sites.
What they found was unexpected: scientists identified reportable levels of PFASs聽in 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in 33 states. Thirteen of those states accounted for 75 percent of the contamination; among the worst offenders were California, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Alabama. Reportable levels are considered at or above 70 parts per trillion by the EPA.
About six million people drink water from one of the contaminated water supplies, the researchers found. Those in areas with high levels of PFAS in the water supply should avoid drinking and using contaminated water. They should also report unhealty levels to the EPA.聽
A national backlash against poor quality drinking water and unenforced drinking water standards followed news last winter that Flint's water supply carried higher levels of lead than are deemed safe by the EPA.
In July, 海角大神 reported on another water crisis, this time involving a PFAS cousin called PFOA (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid). Residents of Hoosick Falls, a village in northeastern New York about 10 miles west of Bennington, Vt., first brought high levels of PFOA in their drinking water to the attention of regulatory authorities in 2014.
Despite the high PFOA levels, officials told the residents that their water was safe to drink. This July, Congress called聽upon EPA to testify about their response at a congressional hearing.
鈥淭his study will add to the dialogue that started with Hoosick Falls and Bennington,鈥� Dr. Sedlak tells the Monitor in a phone interview, 鈥渢o accelerate the development of a regulatory response.鈥�
While there has been little congressional progress thus far, Sedlak says that the US military and other regulatory agencies are becoming increasingly concerned about PFASs and similar chemicals.
This is just one water crisis in a string of crises, says Sedlak, pointing to the outcry against dry-cleaning solvents in water 20 years ago.
鈥淭his family of contaminants are just another chapter in the story,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is important that regulations have some teeth, and that we don鈥檛 simply rely on the good intentions of industry to voluntarily regulate contaminants.鈥�
