| Water Quality & Your Health In the News |
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Links to most current reports on water quality, filtration & health concerns. |
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| Arsenic levels in rural community exceed federal limits (Caller.com 1/15/2011) |
BANQUETE — Some residents in the northwestern reaches of Nueces County are paying for well water that contains levels of arsenic above what the federal government says is safe to drink.
An estimated 60 residents in Cindy Park, a low-income rural community of about 200 people, receive drinking water from Cyndie Park II Water Supply Cooperative, a volunteer-run water system. - Entire Article Here |
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| Water advisory issued - Some county residents urged to boil water (Martinsville Bulletin 1/11/2011) |
A water line break Sunday night is causing local and state officials to urge some people in the Carver area of Henry County to boil water before drinking it.
Officials emphasize, however, that it is just a precautionary measure, and no illness from contaminated water has been reported. The break occurred in the Parkway Drive/Summit Road area near U.S. 58. Water service to the approximately 85 affected homes was restored before daybreak Monday, according to Henry County Deputy Administrator Tim Hall. - Entire Article Here |
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| State proposes tougher standards for chemical in drinking water (The Press Enterprise, 01/03/2011) |
California environmental health officials are proposing a tough new goal for hexavalent chromium in drinking water, citing new concerns about the toxic chemical's effect on children.
Research has shown that fetuses, infants and children are more susceptible than adults to the cancer-causing effects of the chemical, said officials with the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. In response, they are proposing a "health goal" -- a benchmark for safe water for all people -- of .02 parts of hexavalent chromium per billion parts of water. The state's previous proposal, in 2009, was .06 parts per billion. - Entire Article Here |
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| Fluoride in Water Linked to Lower IQ in Children (Fluoride Action Network, 12/17/2010) |
Fluoride is added to 70% of U.S. public drinking water supplies.
According to Paul Connett, Ph.D., director of the Fluoride Action Network, "This is the 24th study that has found this association, but this study is stronger than the rest because the authors have controlled for key confounding variables and in addition to correlating lowered IQ with levels of fluoride in the water, the authors found a correlation between lowered IQ and fluoride levels in children's blood. This brings us closer to a cause and effect relationship between fluoride exposure and brain damage in children." - Entire Article Here |
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| Study finds probable carcinogen in tap water of 31 U.S. cities (Washington Post, 12/20/2010) |
A new analysis showing the presence of a probable carcinogen in the tap water of 31 cities across the country has raised questions about possible risks posed to consumers in those communities and how they can reduce their exposure.
The chemical, hexavalent chromium, got public attention in the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich" and has been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals by the National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health.
Although basic water filters such as those made by Brita and PUR do not remove hexavalent chromium, several reverse-osmosis systems designed for home use can take the chemical out of water. Such systems are available for purchase online and at hardware stores. - Entire Article Here |
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| More Towns With Elevated Arsenic In Maine Revealed By Water Well Tests (Medical News Today, 12/10/2010 |
The report "Assessment of Arsenic Concentrations in Domestic Well Water, by Town, in Maine, 2005-09" and maps are posted online.
Potentially harmful arsenic levels have been found in private water wells in towns across Maine where elevated arsenic risks were not previously suspected. Arsenic levels in some private wells exceeded the federal safety standard for public drinking water by ten to one-hundred times or more, according to findings released by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study is the largest of its kind in Maine. - Entire Article Here |
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| Stomach bug prompts criminal probe (UPI.com, 11/30/2010) |
OSTERSUND, Sweden, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A criminal investigation is under way in Sweden to determine how an intestinal parasite ended up in the town of Ostersund's municipal water supply, police said.
Environmental prosecutor Christer B. Jarlas said release of the parasite cryptosporidium may have been the result of criminal negligence, the Swedish news agency TT reported Tuesday.
More than 2,000 residents of the northern Swedish town became ill after drinking water from the city's supply. - Entire Article Here |
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| Barstow in state of emergency over drinking water (San Francisco Chronicle, 11/21/2010) |
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Saturday for San Bernardino County, where the water supply for Barstow was found to be contaminated with a toxic chemical used to make explosives and rocket fuel.
A day earlier, Golden State Water Co. warned residents of the desert town that their drinking water contained high levels of perchlorate, a contaminant often associated with defense and aerospace activities. - Entire Article Here |
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| Chromium plume spreads in Calif. town's water (Tri-cityharald.com, 11/09/2010) |
LOS ANGELES A tiny desert town whose plight was made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich" has seen a dramatic increase in the size of a toxic plume of chromium as it has spread to multiple groundwater wells.
Water regulators earlier this year discovered a well with increasing concentrations of the cancer-causing pollutant and now even more wells have been uncovered with elevated levels, said Lauri Kemper, assistant executive officer of the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control board. - Entire Article Here |
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| NYC says 'run tap' after tests find lead in water (Tri-cityharald.com, 11/04/2010) |
NEW YORK New Yorkers are being told to run their taps for 30 seconds before drinking water, cooking with it or using it to make baby formula after tests showed elevated lead levels in some older buildings.
The city Department of Environmental Protection said the water supply for the nation's largest city, which comes from 19 upstate reservoirs, is virtually lead-free. It is tested half a million times a year at the reservoirs and at hundreds of sampling stations. - Entire Article Here |
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| 'Fracking' Mobilizes Uranium in Marcellus Shale, UB Research Finds (Medica-Newswire, 10/26/2010) |
| (Media-Newswire.com) - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Scientific and political disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused primarily on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground to blast through rocks to release the natural gas. - Entire Article Here |
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| With 138 dead, official says Haiti cholera outbreak will likely worsen (CNN World, 10/22/2010 |
(CNN) -- Chaos reigned north of Haiti's capital Friday as hospitals overflowed with people rushing to get help from a fast-moving cholera outbreak that has killed at least 138 people.
World health authorities warned that the situation could worsen, with more people showing symptoms, seeking care and fighting dehydration in scorching heat.
"This outbreak is likely to get much larger, given our experience with cholera in the past," said Dr. Jon K. Andrus, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization. - Entire Article Here |
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| Seattle U. to stop serving bottled water (The Seattle Times, 10/14/2010) |
| Seattle University officials say the school has become the first university in Washington to stop selling bottled water in its cafeterias, concession stands and vending machines, as part of a student-led effort to cut down on waste and make the school more sustainable. - Entire Article Here |
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| Garfield residents voice concerns over chromium contamination in groundwater (North Jersey.com, 10/06/2010 |
GARFIELD — More than 160 residents — worried that they’ve been exposed for years to a cancer-causing chemical — grilled experts about the city’s groundwater contamination problem at a public meeting Wednesday.
“You’re living on a time bomb,” said Colleen Calderio, who lives in the worst-affected areas and whose basement has been deemed safe. “If we really get a storm and this cellar starts to flood, how do I know there’s no chromium coming in?” - Entire Article Here |
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| Brown water plagues Ocean Springs residents (Sun Herald.com 09/21/2010) |
OCEAN SPRINGS — Kim Palumbo said she wakes up every morning to brown “Amazon” water running from the faucet in her Gulf Park Estates home.
“It is brown, yellow and green water that I would not even give my cat to drink,” Palumbo told Public Service Commissioner Leonard Bentz at a town hall meeting Tuesday night.
Palumbo joined the packed crowd at the Fontainebleau Community Center to discuss the brown-water issues plaguing the Gulf Park Estates, Ocean Beach Estates and surrounding areas. - Entire Article Here |
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| Manganese in drinking water: Study suggests adverse effects on children's intellectual abilities (EurekAlert.org 09/20/2010) |
| A team of researchers led by Maryse Bouchard, adjunct professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Health, Environment and Society (CINBIOSE) of the Université du Québec à Montréal and a researcher at Sainte-Justine University Hospital, and Donna Mergler, professor emerita in the Department of Biological Sciences and a member of CINBIOSE, recently completed a study showing that children exposed to high concentrations of manganese in drinking water performed worse on tests of intellectual functioning than children with lower exposures. Their results are published in the prestigious scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, in an article entitled "Intellectual Impairment in School-Age Children Exposed to Manganese from Drinking Water". - Entire Article Here |
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| New Study Looks at Groundwater Quality in the North San Francisco Bay Region (USGS, 09/03/2010) |
| SACRAMENTO, CA. — High concentrations of naturally occurring inorganic constituents – including arsenic, boron and lead – are found in about 14 percent of the primary aquifers in Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report prepared in cooperation with the California Water Resources Control Board. Primary aquifers are those that supply public-drinking water. -Entire Article Here |
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| Study Links Fluoride to Pre-term Birth and Anemia in Pregnancy (Water Technology Online, 09/03/2010) |
| New York - Sept 2 -- Fluoride avoidance reduced anemia in pregnant women, decreased pre-term births and enhanced babies birth-weight, concludes leading fluoride expert, AK Susheela and colleagues, in a study published in Current Science (May 2010). -Entire Article Here |
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| Ohio EPA Finds Algae Toxins in Public Drinking Water Supplies (Emax Health, 08/30/2010) |
| The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has reported that tests of public drinking water systems indicate a small amount of microcystin, a liver toxin produced by blue-green algae. The concentration of the toxin is within the safety guidelines set by the World Health Organization, but officials will continue to monitor the waters. -Entire Article Here |
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| State Assembly advances water filtration legislation (The Desert Sun, 08/26/2010) |
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Sacramento lawmakers took a step closer this week toward helping thousands of east valley residents living in areas with potentially unsafe levels of arsenic in the groundwater.
The state Assembly on Tuesday gave its final nod toward AB 2515, which would require the state's health department to create emergency regulations for so-called “point-of-use” filters. -Entire Article Here |
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| U.S. EPA to Establish Nation’s Largest Coastal No-Sewage Zone/ EPA to sign rule preventing large ships from discharging 20 million gallons of sewage along California’s 1,624 mile coastline (EPA, 08/25/2010) |
| SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld will today announce details of the Agency’s proposal to ban all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going ships to the marine waters along California’s entire coastline. This will establish the largest coastal ‘No Discharge Zone’ in the United States and is expected to eliminate millions of gallons of sewage that large ships discharge every year into local waters. -Entire Article Here |
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| Free Drinking Water Donation Program Provides Free Water Filtration Systems to the Sick and Needy. (PRWeb, 08/24/2010) |
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APEC Water Systems is currently accepting applications from people and families who are in need of a drinking water purification system. The Free Drinking Water donation program is looking to help disadvantaged people who are suffering from both financial and medical difficulties and are in need of a reverse osmosis water filtration system to produce ultra pure water for their condition. -Entire Article Here |
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| Algae Blooms in Lake Chesdin Could Mean Smelly Tap Water (CBS6, 08/09/2010) |
| LAKE CHESDIN - So far no one has seen anything green and slimy in their drinking water but algae is becoming a big problem in Lake Chesdin which provides drinking water for a large part of the area's population via the Appomattox River Water Authority and it's become more of a concern than the low water levels of recent. -Entire Article Here |
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| Delaware Drinking Water at Risk. (The News Journal, 07/25/2010) |
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Tainted groundwater is spreading across thousands of acres in northern Delaware and has reached the Potomac Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to people across much of Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. -Entire Article Here
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New WVU-Va Tech study links water quality and cancer deaths in West Virginia coalfields (Charleston Gazette, 4/21/2010) |
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West Virginians who live near streams polluted by coal mining are more likely to die of cancer, according to a first-of-its kind study published by researchers at West Virginia University and Virginia Tech. The study provides the first peer-reviewed look at the relationship between the biological health of Appalachian streams and public health of coalfield residents. -Entire Article Here |
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| As U.S. Congress and EPA Consider New Mercury Removal Standards, Nalco Announces New Service (Globe News Wire, 3/29/2010) |
| Many states are already taking steps to limit mercury discharges, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Congress are considering new federal regulations as well. Nalco (NYSE:NLC), providing essential expertise for water, energy and air, has expanded its capability to help industry, especially power generators, meet current and pending regulations by reducing mercury emissions. -Entire Article Here |
