The results of a new study of California drinking water contains distressing findings. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health, the study analyzed data from over 2,700 California community water systems between 2011 and 2015 and found that pollutants in California water supplies could increase the number of cancer cases in the state by more than 15,000 in a 70-year span. The unique angle of this study was to analyze not simply the effect of a single pollutant in drinking water, but the cumulative effect that the numerous toxins found in the water would have on public health.
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The Environmental Working Group released a statement on April 30, stating that the “greatest risks tended to be in small to midsize communities, highlighting that these places are often the most in need of costly treatment systems and other infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water.” Explaining that drinking water “rarely contains only one contaminant,” the group said it is essential to study the combined effects.
Places such as Flint, Michigan, have suffered the most publicized crises with their water supplies. However, our country’s dependence on big business to provide everything from infrastructure upgrades to safe water is killing us—literally. Conservatives have waged a war against the already battered Environmental Protection Agency, working to roll back even the most bare restrictions on toxic pollution.
The EWG hopes that, by pioneering these new cumulative assessments of our drinking water, it will make it possible for more communities to apply for and receive the kind of federal and state funds needed to upgrade and fix the infrastructure required to ensure better environmental, and ultimately, public health outcomes.