Over the past 50 years, our drinking water supplies have been contaminated with new chemicals, including some that are known or suspected of causing cancer. One of these carcinogenic contaminants, known as TCE, has been in our water supplies since at least the 1990s when "massive underground plumes" were discovered. The Bush administration later delayed the process to regulate it. Thankfully, President Obama will bring the long overdue change. The EPA is now developing new strategies to protect the public from contaminants by revising the "existing drinking water standards for four contaminants that can cause cancer."
Scientific advances now allow these carcinogenic chemicals (tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene (TCE), acrylamide and epichlorohydrin) to be detected at lower levels that will permit stricter regulations.
Tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene are used in industrial and/or textile processing and can be introduced into drinking water from contaminated ground or surface water sources. Acrylamide and epichlorohydrin are impurities that can be introduced into drinking water during the water treatment process.
TCE is one of the chemicals in the drinking water supply that was used for decades by our soldiers and their families at Camp Lejeune, where as many as 1 million people were exposed to this toxic water used for drinking, bathing, cooking and filling up children's pools. The water provided to our soldiers contained two probable carcinogens and one known carcinogen at levels far exceeding safety limits, and many members of military families have become sick or died from various cancers and illnesses. The situation at Camp Lejeune was so outrageous that a Congressional investigation of a possible cover-up was commenced earlier this month. (For more information, please read my earlier diary, Soldiers Sickened by Contaminated Water Cover-Up?)
Today, the Safe Drinking Water Act, one of the major water quality laws, only regulates 91 contaminants of the more than 60,000 chemicals used in the U.S. The EPA will assess some of these other contaminants:
There are ongoing efforts on 14 other drinking water standards. For example, EPA is considering further revisions to the lead and copper rule in order to better address risks to children. EPA also has ongoing health risk assessments or information gathering for chromium, fluoride, arsenic, and atrazine. EPA continues to consider whether to regulate perchlorate. When these efforts are complete, should additional action be required, EPA will move ahead to address any risks in an expedited manner.
Atrazine is a chemical used for weed killer and is manufactured by Syngenta, but it has been banned by the manufacturer's home country and by many other countries since 1991. One study found that atrazine chemically castrated male frogs and atrazine contamination has also been linked with increased incidence of prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Banning is the only way to limit atrazine levels because it can travel up to 600 miles in the rainwater. The Bush EPA in 2006 concluded that no harm will result from atrazine exposure.
More than 20% of the "nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years," including providing to over 49 million people water that "contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage." It is not surprising that studies show that such tainted water supplies are linked to millions of illnesses each year in the U.S. and then there are "diseases like cancer that can take years to develop."
But scientific research indicates that as many as 19 million Americans may become ill each year due to just the parasites, viruses and bacteria in drinking water. Certain types of cancer — such as breast and prostate cancer — have risen over the past 30 years, and research indicates they are likely tied to pollutants like those found in drinking water.
One problem is that "regulations have not kept pace with scientific discoveries," and thus we now have a "range of chemicals that have become more prevalent in our products, our water and our bodies," says Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator.
Government and other scientists have identified hundreds of chemicals that are linked to diseases in small concentrations and that are unregulated in drinking water, or policed at limits that still pose serious risks.
Now, the EPA plans to streamline decision-making to enhance protections. For example, presently the EPA uses a detailed assessment of each individual contaminant in a process that can take years. The new strategy will be to address contaminants as a group, such as pesticides, disinfection byproducts or volatile organic compounds. This grouping method will allow the EPA to issue new rules that apply to dozens of chemicals, and enable not only a faster pace but also the issuance of stronger rules.
Lisa Jackson also suggested that reform needs the public to change its perception of the meaning of environmentalism away from the misperception that it is some "boutique issue that affects only a few":
Broadening the way we think about environmentalism is critical. Environmentalism isn't a boutique issue that affects only a few. And environmentalists aren't professionals and specialists. Protecting our air, water and land is all of our jobs. I want to help people see the many ways that environmental issues affect their daily lives. Children's health is affected by chemicals in the products we buy and use in our home. Water and air pollution prevent businesses from investing and creating jobs in our communities. Environmental triggers send people to the hospital with asthma and other breathing problems. Environmentalism is about where we live, work, play and learn. Expanding that perception helps us address issues from climate change to environmental justice to long-standing concerns about air and water.
What can you do to protect your family and loved ones from using contaminated water? If you are connected to a community water system (water service system with at least 15 service connections and/or 25 people year round), such as water service provided by cities, towns, and homeowner associations, then you can start by checking your Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) (pdf file) (the CCR is also called the annual water quality report or drinking water quality report) that the water system is required by law to prepare and distribute by July 1 of each year. The CCR must include a list of the level of any contaminant detected in the local drinking water and the EPA health standard of maximum contaminant level for comparison, the likely source of the contaminant, and the potential health effects of any detected contaminant that violates EPA health standards. If you want additional testing, the EPA has a list of drinking water laboratories certified by the states.