Hundreds Of Toxic Chemicals Swirl In U.S. Tap Water

Since 2019, more than 320 toxic substances have been detected in U.S. drinking water systems, according to a new analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, Huanjia Zhang reported for Environmental Health News.

Photo Insert: The 320 toxic substances found in US drinking water are linked to cancer, adverse birth and reproduction outcomes, impaired brain development, and a revolving door of other deleterious health impacts.

Those harmful chemicals are linked to cancer, adverse birth and reproduction outcomes, impaired brain development, and a revolving door of other deleterious health impacts, Zhang added.

The findings, part of the 2021 update to EWG’s national Tap Water Database, underpin the call for more rigorous federal drinking water standards and the urgency to improve water infrastructure.

EWG researchers collected and reviewed results from water contaminant tests conducted by water utilities and regulators from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

After combing through the data from almost 50,000 water systems serving tens of millions of American households, the researchers found sweeping drinking water contamination from numerous pollutants such as arsenic, lead, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), radioactive materials, and pesticides.

The database “offers a panoramic view of what drinking water quality looks like when the federal office meant to protect our water is in an advanced stage of regulatory capture,” said EWG President Ken Cook in a statement, referring to the influence of polluting industries and water utilities on drinking water safety standards.

Compared to the 2019 update to the database, which identified 268 chemicals in US water utilities, the new database added 56 chemicals, which are new PFAS or emerging pollutants, such as pesticides and radioactive material, that are currently monitored by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the agency’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.

Currently, the EPA regulates more than 90 contaminants in drinking water, a fraction of the agency’s inventory of more than 85,000 chemicals that fall under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA’s Office of Water has not added any new substances to its regulated list since 2006.

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