A database compiled by the Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University evaluates drinking water sources across the country.
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More than 19 million Americans may be exposed to unsafe drinking water, researchers warn.
Millions of Americans may be exposed to contaminated drinking water systems that are dangerous for their health, an updated interactive map shows.
The map, a collaborative effort by Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, and Northeastern University‘s Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute, documents toxic fluorinated compounds known as PFAS at publicly known pollution sites across the U.S., including public water systems, military bases, military and civilian airports, industrial plants, dumps and firefighter training sites.
The researchers found at least 610 drinking water sources in 43 states contain potentially unsafe PFAS levels, and estimate that more than 19 million people are exposed to these man-made chemicals that have been linked to birth defects, increased risk of thyroid disease, infertility and reduced immune responses in children.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has utterly failed to address PFAS with the seriousness this crisis demands, leaving local communities and states to grapple with a complex problem rooted in the failure of the federal chemical regulatory system,” said Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group, in a press release. “EPA must move swiftly to set a truly health-protective legal limit for all PFAS chemicals, requiring utilities to clean up contaminated water supplies.”
Any detection of these chemicals were included in the interactive map, despite some of the levels being well below the Environmental Protection Agency’s “non-binding health advisory” standard of 70 parts per trillion, said Bill Walker, editor-in-chief of the Environmental Working Group, via email.
“We, along with many states and academic scientists, regard that number as far too high,” said Walker, who wrote the map’s accompanying reportlet. “EWG endorses studies by Dr. Phillipe Grandjean of Harvard that say levels as low as 1 (part per trillion) could have adverse health effects such as repressed immune function in children. Therefore, we believe a map showing only detections above the EPA advisory would be misleading as to the true extent of the contamination crisis.”
However, a spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency cautions the map “seems to show any samples for PFAS chemicals that have been collected, which may or may not be detections.”
“EPA has not fully reviewed the quality of the underlying data, and based on the agency’s commitment to good risk communication with the public, EPA cannot recommend the map be used to determine where public health risks associated with PFAS chemicals may or may not exist,” John Konkus, the EPA’s deputy associate administrator for public affairs, wrote in an email. “The agency’s efforts continue to be focused on taking the actions committed to in the PFAS Action Plan.”
Michigan has 192 sites on the map, reflecting the most comprehensive testing program in the U.S., according to the press release, followed by California, at 47, and New Jersey, at 43. The map also documents 117 military sites.
“Leaders in many communities and states are doing great work to raise awareness about PFAS and push for cleanup, but this is a national crisis demanding national action,” Phil Brown, director of the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute, said in a press release. “The EPA should act more quickly to evaluate all PFAS chemicals and restrict their use, and polluting industries should be held responsible.”
In March, a bipartisan pair of PFAS-monitoring bills were introduced in U.S. Congress to “inform and enhance assessments of exposure, likely health and environmental impacts, and remediation priorities,” according to the House version of the bill. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry are calling for researchers to apply for a multi-site project on the human health effects of PFAS exposure.
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