14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers working with the US Geological Survey and the country's Environmental Protection Agency have completed an investigation into the quality of drinking water nationwide, and their results are a tad worrying.
Long story short, the specialists analyzed water samples collected from 25 water utilities and found traces of 21 contaminants in samples coming from 9 of these facilities.
Of the 21 contaminants identified in drinking water throughout the course of this investigation, 18 are unregulated ones, Environmental Health News reports.
This means that, under the country's current Safe Drinking Water Act, utilities are not legally required to limit their concentrations in any way, or at least check to see whether or not they are present in drinking water.
According to Dana Kolphin, a researcher hydrologist now working with the US Geological Survey, people can seek comfort in the thought that the concentrations of these unregulated chemicals were fairly low.
Then again, the specialist cannot help but wonder if people do not risk being affected by long-term exposure to these compounds.
“The good news is the concentrations are generally pretty low. But, there’s still the unknown. Are there long-term consequences of low-level exposure to these chemicals?” the hydrologist said.
The same source tells us that the 18 unregulated chemicals found in US drinking water are as follows: 11 perfluorinated compounds, two solvents, a herbicide, caffeine, a metal, an antidepressant and an antibacterial compound.
Presently, the scientific community is unable to say whether or not the majority of these compounds constitutes a threat to public health.
However, it appears that, according to recent investigations, a perfluorinated compound dubbed PFOA can be linked to several medical problems, including cancer.
“We’re hoping through this work the EPA will do a much more intensive contaminant candidate list and develop new methods and requirements for drinking water plants,” Edward Furlong with the US Geological Survey commented on the importance of this study.
A research paper detailing the findings of this investigation has not yet been published.