14 Pollutants Found In Virginia Drinking Water, Study Shows

When water flows out of the faucet and into a glass, it usually appears clean and healthy. A report released Wednesday, though, found hundreds of harmful contaminants across the American water supply that can cause cancer, developmental issues in children, problems in pregnancy and other serious health conditions.

“There are chemicals that have been linked to cancer, for example, that are found above health-based limits, or health guidelines, in the water of more than 250 million Americans,” said Nneka Leiba, director of Healthy Living Science at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an independent nonprofit organization that released a detailed account of the contaminants.

EWB, in conjunction with outside scientists, assessed health-based guidelines for hundreds of chemicals found in our water across the country and compared them to the legal limits.

In Virginia, 10 contaminants in drinking water were found to be above health guidelines, while six are above legal limits. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Virginia Patch news alerts and newsletters.)

These contaminants are above health guidelines in Virginia:

• Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), which are linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues
• Bromodichloromethane, which is linked to harm to child and fetuses, as well as reproductive difficulties
• Chloroform, which is linked to cancer and fetal development issues
• Chromium (hexavalent), which is linked to cancer, liver damage and productive system damages
• Dichloroacetic acid, which has been linked to cancer and may harm reproduction and child development
• Trichloroacetic acid, which has been linked to cancer and may harm reproduction and child development
• Dibromochloromethane, which has been linked to cancer and may harm fetal development
• Chlorate, which impairs thyroid function
• Radium-226, which is linked to cancer
• Radium-228, which is linked to cancer

These seven contaminants were detected above legal guidelines in Virginia:

• Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), linked to bladder cancer, skin cancer and fetal development issues
• Haloacetic acids, linked to cancer and harm to fetuses
• Radium-226 and Radium-228, both of which have been linked to cancer
• Fluoride, linked to bone cancer and bone and teeth harm
• Arsenic, which has been linked to cancer; brain damage; central nervous system damage; skin damage, heart and blood vessel changes; and increased risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes
• Uranium, which has been linked to cancer and harm to the kidneys

“There are more than 250 contaminants across our nation’s drinking water,” Leiba said. “About 160 of those are unregulated. And that’s a big concern, because if a chemical is unregulated, that means it can be present in our water at any level — and be legal.” Most of the water in the United States comes from local utilities that measure contaminants in their water supply, but this data can be difficult to obtain.

Contaminants in your water: EWG has released a public database cataloging contaminants in water systems in every state in the country — the first comprehensive database of its kind that took two years to build. First select the state where you live, and you'll see state-level data. For more local information, enter your zip code.

After you enter your zip code, you'll be directed to a page showing the water utilities in your county. Select your town to see which contaminants put your families at risk.

What You Can Do

Once people know about the high levels of dangerous contaminants in their water, the question becomes what they can do to protect their health.

”There’s a way to reduce those levels simply by buying a water filter,” said Leiba.

EWG provides a guide to buying water filters.

There are many types of filters, including carbon filters, deionization filters and distillation filters. Each type has its own strengths and weakness, so sometimes a filter will include multiple filtration methods to eliminate more potential threats. If you find that your local water supply has a particularly high level of a dangerous chemical, you can search for a filter that blocks that substance.

To find the most effective filter, look for certifications from the Water Quality Association and NSF International. Different filters remove different contaminants.

It’s important to remember, though, that even high-quality filters are not 100 percent effective.

“Filters don’t remove everything,” Scott Meschke, professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at Washington University, told Patch. He emphasized that it’s important to make sure you’re using a filter that is designed to fit your local needs.

He also said that users should change water filters on a regular basis. Old filters that are never replaced can host bacterial, which also pose potential dangers.

People who don’t get their water through a public utility will have different needs.

“If you are on a private well, I would say that you need to be monitoring your water. You should be paying on a regular basis to have it tested,” Meschke said.

Read more about the risks and the government’s role regulating water safety: More Than 250M Americans Drink Water With Cancer-Linked Pollutants.

- By Cody Fenwick

Image via Pixabay.