Drinking water contains complex mixtures of contaminants. (Photo: Bigstock)
September 23, 2019
By a staff writer
Natural Health News
Health News – A toxic cocktail of chemical contaminants in US drinking water could lead to more than 100,000 cases of cancer, according to a new review.
The Environmental Working Group’s study is the first to comprehensively assess cancer risks from 22 carcinogenic contaminants in drinking water nationwide.
In the article published in the magazine HelionEWG scientists used a new analytical framework that estimated the combined health effects of carcinogens in 48,363 water supply systems in the US. This estimate does not include water quality data for the 13.5 million US households that use private wells for their drinking water.
“Drinking water contains complex mixtures of contaminants, but government agencies currently assess the health risks of tap water contaminants on a case-by-case basis,” said Sidney Evans, lead author of the paper and EWG science analyst. “In the real world, people are exposed to chemical mixtures, so it’s important that we start assessing health effects by looking at the combined effects of different pollutants.”
This aggregate approach is common in assessing the health effects of exposure to air pollutants, but has never been applied to a national drinking water contaminant dataset. This model is based on a cumulative cancer risk assessment of water pollutants state of California and provides a deeper understanding of national drinking water quality. As determined by US government agencies, the estimated risk of cancer refers to a statistical lifetime or about 70 years.
Most of the increased cancer risk is due to contamination with arsenic, a byproduct of chemical disinfection, and radioactive elements such as uranium and radium. Higher-risk water systems typically serve smaller communities and rely on groundwater. These communities often need improved infrastructure and resources to provide their residents with clean drinking water. However, large surface water systems represent a significant contribution to the overall risk due to their larger population and the continuous presence of disinfection byproducts.
The number of cancer cases from water pollution is small compared to the total number of cancer cases in the US. However, this is a cancer that can be prevented with better regulation.
“The vast majority of community water systems meet legal standards,” said Olga Naidenko, Ph.D., EWG’s vice president for scientific research. “However, recent research shows that pollutants present in these concentrations – perfectly legal – can harm human health.”
“We need to prioritize water source protection to make sure these contaminants don’t end up in drinking water supplies,” Naidenko added.
Those concerned about chemicals in their tap water can a water filter to help reduce the impact of pollutants. Filters must target specific pollutants was detected in tap water.
