Public Data Show
Chemicals in Tap Water
December 21, 2005 — By John Heilprin, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Drinking water may have
a lot more in it than just H20 and fluoride, according to an
environmental group's analysis of records in 42 states.
A survey by the Environmental Working Group released on Tuesday found
141 unregulated chemicals and an additional 119 for which the
Environmental Protection Agency has set health-based limits. Most common
among the chemicals found were disinfection byproducts, nitrates,
chloroform, barium, arsenic and copper.
The research-and-advocacy organization compiled findings from the states
that agreed to provide data they collected from 1998 to 2003. That data
comes from nearly 40,000 water utilities, serving 231 million people.
The utilities were required by federal law to report that data to
consumers.
For the unregulated chemicals, EPA is still identifying and considering
the potential risks for possible future regulations. Nineteen of those
chemicals exceeded EPA's unenforced safety guidelines for tap water
systems serving at least 10,000 people, according to the advocacy group.
The EPA gathers its own water monitoring data, reviews the latest
research and looks at treatment methods and technology, an agency
spokeswoman said. States also are free to set their own safety standards
for contaminants that may not be detected in other states.
Benjamin Grumbles, who heads EPA's Office of Water, said that "for the
chemicals the agency regulates, nearly 100 percent of the community
water systems that provide drinking water to the majority of Americans
are meeting clean drinking water standards. We also have a process to
continuously identify new contaminants for which regulation could reduce
risks."
Jane Houlihan, EWG's vice president for research, said the group's
findings show that the United States allows millions of people to be
exposed to some chemicals for which EPA either has never considered the
risks or if it has, has no enforceable limits.
"So in many communities the water that comes out of the tap could be
contaminated with scores of chemicals. People shouldn't be alarmed, but
they should be concerned. Our system of public health protections isn't
working in this case," Houlihan said.
The top 10 states, listed in order of the most contaminants in their
drinking water, were: California, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, North
Carolina, Texas, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Illinois, according
to EWG, which listed the biggest sources as agriculture, industry and
urban and sprawl developments.
Tom Curtis, a deputy director of the Denver-based American Water Works
Association, echoed Grumbles' comments. "That's good news, and it's a
reflection of water professionals' ongoing commitment to protecting
public health," he said.
Curtis said the EPA has "a systematic approach to determining which
substances should be regulated. Those regulations take into account
occurrence data and health effects research, and should reflect the best
available science."
He also said that "water suppliers support strong regulations that
protect public health, and they also support proactive research that
identifies and examines new substances found in source waters."
Last week, in setting two new rules to protect public drinking water,
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called clean drinking water "a key
ingredient to keeping people healthy and our economy strong." One rule
aims to prevent disease-causing microorganisms from entering public
water supplies, while the other is intended to limit the amount of
potentially harmful disinfection byproducts.
Source: Associated Press
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