Unregulated, harmful contaminants found in vast amount of U.S. drinking

Nearly a third of Americans have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water that might affect their health.

What’s more, Hispanic and Black people are more likely to have unsafe levels of contaminants in their drinking water, and to live near pollution sources like industrial facilities, researchers said in a new study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

“Our findings show that the percentage of Hispanic and Black residents in a community is a consistent predictor of poorer water quality,” lead researcher Aaron Maruzzo, a scientist at Silent Spring Institute in Boston, said in a news release from the group.

Public water facilities are currently required to test for nearly 100 contaminants in drinking water, researchers said.

“Yet, we know there are thousands of other harmful chemicals that are not regulated that make their way into groundwater and surface waters, and some of these chemicals can ultimately end up in drinking water supplies,” senior researcher Laurel Schaider, a senior scientist at Silent Spring Institute, said in a news release.

For this study, researchers looked at data the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collected between 2013 and 2015 under a program tracking unregulated contaminants in drinking water.

The research team analyzed data from more than 4,800 public water systems and found that 27% — serving 97 million people — had detectable levels of at least one of these chemicals:

* 1,4-dioxane, a solvent the EPA classifies as a probable human carcinogen

* PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), non-stick chemicals widely used in consumer products that have been associated with hormone disruption, cancer, and other health problems

* Chlorodifluoromethane (Freon 22), an ozone-depleting gas used in the production of fluoropolymers like Teflon

* 1,1-dichloroethane, a solvent used in paints, plastics, and pesticides that has been associated with cancer

These chemicals appear more frequently in Hispanic and Black neighborhoods, which are more likely to be situated close to sites that discharge the pollutants, researchers said.

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Discharge sites include wastewater treatment plants, airports, industrial sites and military training facilities.

These findings build on previous research by the Silent Spring Institute, which found that Hispanic residents were more likely to be exposed to higher levels of nitrate in drinking water, researchers said.

Nitrates can cause a fatal condition called “blue baby syndrome,” in which blood is less able to carry oxygen around the body, researchers said. Nitrate exposure also might increase the risk of colon and bladder cancer.

Last year, the EPA announced drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals, researchers noted.

“Ultimately, we need to do a better job at protecting source waters and reducing discharges of pollutants into water bodies that feed into our drinking water supplies,” Schaider concluded.

More information

The Environmental Working Group has more on PFAS chemicals.

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