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safe drinking water act
EPA Finds at Least 26 Million People in US Have Toxic 'Forever Chemicals' in Their Drinking Water
"The new testing data shows that escaping PFAS is nearly impossible," said one campaigner. "The EPA has done its job, and the Biden White House must finalize drinking water standards this year."
Aug 17, 2023
Environmental justice advocates on Thursday renewed calls for the Biden administration to finalize drinking water standards after the Environmental Protection Agency published data showing 26 million people in hundreds of U.S. communities have toxic "forever chemicals" in their water supply.
The EPA released data from an initial round of testing that confirmed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—called forever chemicals because they do not biodegrade and accumulate in the human body—in 431 water systems at levels above minimum reporting limits. The Safe Drinking Water Act requires U.S. utilities to test drinking water for 29 different PFAS compounds and publish results every five years.
The findings—which are far more conservative than those of the U.S. Geological Survey and some nongovernmental research—come after the EPA in March proposed limits on the amounts of certain PFAS compounds in drinking water.
"The initial data indicate that multiple forever chemicals are being detected in public water systems, with two specific PFAS (PFOS and PFOA) concentrations above the proposed maximum contaminant levels (the highest levels of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water) in over 150 systems," said Elizabeth Southerland, a former EPA water specialist now with the advocacy group Environmental Protection Network. "It is critically important that EPA continue to release this data every quarter so the public can see as quickly as possible if their drinking water has PFAS levels of concern."
Katie Pelch, a scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said in a statement that "the PFAS testing results suggest that there is extensive contamination of tap water."
"Our concern remains that these testing results significantly underreport the presence of PFAS in tap water, potentially misleading communities about the safety of their drinking water," Pelch added. "This is because only a fraction of the PFAS that may be present in drinking water are monitored for, and utilities are not required to report PFAS detected, but at levels below the reporting limits."
Erik Olson, NRDC's senior strategic director for health, asserted that "the focus needs to remain on people in our communities who deserve to know if their drinking water is contaminated with harmful PFAS chemicals."
"Federal, state, and local governing bodies must act swiftly to stop contamination, clean up polluted water, and safeguard the health of everyday people," he added.
Forever chemicals have myriad uses, from nonstick cookware to waterproof clothing to firefighting foam. According to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, PFAS is linked to cancers of the kidneys and testicles, low infant weight, suppressed immune function, and other adverse health effects. It is found in the blood of 99% of Americans and a similar percentage of people around the world.
The EPA's findings follow a 2020 Environmental Working Group (EWG) study that found more than 200 million Americans could have PFAS in their drinking water. The advocacy group maintains an interactive map showing more than 2,800 PFAS-contaminated sites in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and multiple U.S. territories.
"For decades, millions of Americans have unknowingly consumed water tainted with PFAS," EWG senior vice president for government affairs Scott Faber said in a statement. "The new testing data shows that escaping PFAS is nearly impossible. The EPA has done its job, and the Biden White House must finalize drinking water standards this year."
Melanie Benesh, EWG's vice president of government affairs, said that "the PFAS pollution crisis threatens all of us. The EPA's proposed limits also serve as a stark reminder of just how toxic these chemicals are to human health at very low levels."
"The agency needs to finalize its proposal and make the limits for PFAS in water enforceable," she added.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 allocated $9 billion to invest in communities where drinking water is contaminated with PFAS and other toxins.
However, other bills to limit PFAS have died in Congress under intense lobbying from the chemical industry, which has long known—and conspired to conceal—the health and environmental dangers of forever chemicals.
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Want Babies? Maybe Move Away From Fracking Country, New Studies Suggest
Research 'may have implications for the fertility of men living in regions with dense oil and/or natural gas production'
Oct 15, 2015
From decreased sperm count to messed up hormones to premature births, exposure to fracking chemicals could lead to long-term reproductive health consequences, according to a pair of studies published this month.
Research that appears Thursday in the journal Endocrinology shows that "23 commonly used oil and natural gas operation chemicals can activate or inhibit the estrogen, androgen, glucocorticoid, progesterone, and/or thyroid receptors, and mixtures of these chemicals can behave synergistically, additively, or antagonistically in vitro."
"These findings may have implications for the fertility of men living in regions with dense oil and/or natural gas production."
--Susan Nagel, University of Missouri
Furthermore, the study found that prenatal exposure among males to those 23 endocrine-disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, "caused decreased sperm counts and increased testes, body, heart, and thymus weights and increased serum T in male mice, suggesting multiple organ system impacts. " The study was conducted on mice with wastewater samples from Garfield County, Colorado fracking sites.
In other words, said Susan Nagel of the University of Missouri, the study's senior author: "It is clear EDCs used in fracking can act alone or in combination with other chemicals to interfere with the body's hormone function." Hormones regulate cell activity and biological processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and digestion.
Fracking companies use a mix of pressurized water, sand, and chemicals to unlock hydrocarbon reserves deep in shale rock. However, due to the "Halliburton Loophole," which exempts fracking operations from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, it is often difficult to ascertain what chemicals are being used and in what concentration.
Still, Nagel stated, "This study is the first to demonstrate that EDCs commonly used in fracking, at levels realistic for human and animal exposure in these regions, can adversely affect the reproductive health of mice. In addition to reduced sperm counts, the male mice exposed to the mixture of chemicals had elevated levels of testosterone in their blood and larger testicles. These findings may have implications for the fertility of men living in regions with dense oil and/or natural gas production."
The Huffington Postpoints out:
Hormone-disrupting chemicals have become the subject of increasing scientific scrutiny. In a statement published last month, the Endocrine Society, a professional medical organization, described the potentially widespread health threats posed by the class of chemicals. Even at very small concentrations--say, a couple of tablespoons in an Olympic-size swimming pool--exposures to these chemicals early in life have been shown capable of derailing normal brain and sexual development, diminishing the immune system's ability to fight disease, among other effects. Combine these chemicals, the society warned, and the risks may become all the more unpredictable and worrisome--and potentially costly. An analysis published in March attributed more than $200 billion a year in health care expenses and lost earning potential to hormone-disruptor exposures in the European Union.
Meanwhile, other new research out this month from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed that expectant mothers who live near active natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies.
"The growth in the fracking industry has gotten way ahead of our ability to assess what the environmental and, just as importantly, public health impacts are," said study leader Brian Schwartz, a Department of Environmental Health Sciences professor at the Bloomberg School. "More than 8,000 unconventional gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania alone, and we're allowing this while knowing almost nothing about what it can do to health. Our research adds evidence to the very few studies that have been done in showing adverse health outcomes associated with the fracking industry."
That small and growing body of research, however, is already telling a story. As Schwartz told Tribune News Service in early October, " Four studies have now looked at various aspects of reproductive health in relation to this industry, and all have found something."
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Ten Years Later, the 'Halliburton Loophole' and America's Dirty Fracking Boom
Aug 10, 2015
This past Saturday, Aug. 8, marked a notable 10th anniversary. But it was certainly nothing to celebrate. President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ten years ago. The giant energy bill included massive giveaways for the fossil fuel, nuclear, and ethanol industries and provided only token incentives for renewables and improved energy efficiency. But the most infamous piece of the law was what is now commonly known as the "Halliburton Loophole," an egregious regulatory exemption that ushered in the disastrous era of widespread oil and gas fracking that currently grips our nation.
Fracking - the extreme oil and gas extraction method that involves blasting millions of gallons of water mixed with toxic chemicals underground at enormous pressures to break apart subterranean rock - has exploded in the last decade. More than 270,000 wells have been fracked in 25 states throughout the nation. More than 10 million Americans live within a mile of a fracking site. This means that 10 million Americans - and truly many more - have been placed directly in harm's way. Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have connected fracking to serious human health effects, including cancer, asthma, and birth defects.
We can thank the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the law that holds the Halliburton Loophole. Named after Dick Cheney and the notorious corporation he led before becoming vice president, the law (championed by Cheney and disgraced Enron founder Kenneth Lay, among others) explicitly exempted fracking operations from key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act. These exemptions from one of America's most fundamental environmental protection laws provided the oil and gas industry the immunity it required to develop a highly polluting process on a grand national scale.
One of the most troubling repercussions is how fracking companies hide the contents of their toxic water and chemical solutions pumped into the ground. Contamination of underground drinking water sources from fracking fluids is a glaring threat to public health and safety. Yet even doctors responding to fracking-related health complaints can't access data on what particular chemicals their patients may have been exposed to.
But the Halliburton Loophole wasn't the only fracking enabler in the Energy Policy Act. The act granted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sweeping new authority to supersede state and local decision-making about the citing of fracked gas pipelines and infrastructure. It also shifted to FERC industry oversight and compliance responsibility for the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, another key law. This was akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
As it stands, FERC is entirely unaccountable to the public will. It is unaccountable to Congress and even the White House. Commissioners are appointed to five-year terms and can do as they please. Until a law reigning in FERC is passed, the commission will continue to act as a rubber stamp for the fossil fuel industry.
The Energy Policy Act also repealed an important anti-monopoly law, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). PUHCA safeguarded consumers from the overreach of the oil and gas industry and banks that did business with those companies. It prevented the formation of giant state and regional energy cartels that could manipulate energy costs, engage in profiteering, and exert undue influence over political debate. The Energy Policy Act transferred most of this oversight to FERC. Since then, the largest American energy companies have grown significantly more powerful and spent almost a billion dollars on federal lobbying, according to OpenSecrets.org.
The 10th anniversary of the Energy Policy Act is a sad occasion. Still, it provides us with a ripe opportunity to reexamine our nation's disastrous policy of doubling down on fossil fuels over the last decade, thanks to the extreme process of fracking. For the sake of countless Americans who are currently suffering health effects caused by fracking and the countless more who will suffer in the future, we must immediately curtail our dependence on oil and gas and turn decisively toward a truly clean, renewable energy future.
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