Study: Water in 43 US States Polluted with Health Hazardous Substances

A new report by the non-profit organization Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University states that residents of almost every US state are affected by unhealthy drinking water. According to researchers, in some places in 43 states, drinking water is contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFAS). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these chemicals can cause serious health problems, including birth defects, cancer, and infertility.

Фото: Depositphotos

The study used information taken from the Pentagon data and reports on water use. It has been found that approximately 19 of millions of US residents are exposed to contaminated water. Researchers have discovered at least 610 sites where water contaminated with chemicals flows: from public water systems and military bases to civilian airports, industrial plants, landfills and fire stations, writes CBS News.

“This should be scary for all Americans in many ways. These chemicals don't break down in our bodies, they don't break down in our environment, and they actually make their way into our bloodstream. Thus, their levels in the body tend to increase over time,” said David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group.

According to the group, created by its researchers interactive map is the most comprehensive resource available for tracking water pollution by chemicals of the PFAS class.

Screenshot from ewg.org

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PFAS substances are used in a wide range of consumer products, such as cleaning products, textiles, leather, paper, paints, fire fighting foam and wire insulation.

“These chemicals can affect many different systems in the body and cause numerous health problems ranging from testicular and kidney cancer, heart disease, liver disease, thyroid disease,” Andrews said, adding that these chemicals can also affect children's development , lead to low birth weight babies and have a negative impact on the immune system.

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“The EPA has completely failed to respond to PFAS with the seriousness this crisis requires. As a result, local communities and states are faced with a complex problem rooted in the failure of the federal chemical regulatory system,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, which has studied these compounds for nearly two decades.

“The updated map shows that PFAS contamination is truly a nationwide problem, affecting millions of Americans in hundreds of communities,” said Phil Brown, professor of sociology and health sciences at Northeastern University and director of the Institute for Social Research in Environmental Health.

This report appeared less than a week after another study by Environmental Working Group concluded that a number of toxic chemical pollutants found in drinking water in Californiamay cause more 15 000 suspected cancer cases in the coming decades.

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An overview of drinking water pollution regulations shows that EPA has two categories of drinking water standards: a primary standard that focuses on harmful substances in water, and a secondary standard that focuses on those substances in water that cause discoloration of skin and teeth, and impart she has bad taste, smell or color.

According to the Environmental Working Group, the EPA does not have a legally binding restriction on the availability of PFAS class chemicals in drinking water. Instead, the agency has established an advisory restriction on the availability of these substances in water, the excess of which can have a negative impact on the health of consumers, but this restriction is not legally binding for companies supplying water.

The Environmental Working Group insists that the limit for all PFAS chemicals should be set at 1 ppt, or one part per trillion, far lower than what other regulators consider safe.

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