Unregulated industrial pollutants detected in a little drinking water from the United States

The US EPA regulates levels of more than 90 pollutants in public drinking water, but thousands of potentially harmful chemicals remain without health standards at the federal or state level.

The monitoring data show that more than 97 million people in the United States have been served by public water systems containing detectable levels of at least one unregulated industrial pollutant, according to a New study Posted in Environmental health Perspective. And drinking water in counties with higher proportions of Hispanic residents was more likely to have these pollutants.

“This study affirms what the defenders of environmental justice have been highlighting for decades: color communities often have to drink dirtier water,” he said Lara CushingAn environmental health scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles who did not participate in the study.

Not regulated but not absent

“The number of contaminants regulated in the federal law is low in relation to the number of potential pollutants that can reach the sources of drinking water,” he said Aaron MaruzzoEnvironmental Health Scientist at the Silent Spring Institute and main author of the study.

To have an idea of ​​public exhibition, EPA Collect data in a selection of unregulated contaminants in drinking water every 5 years. During each data collection cycle, pollutants are selected on the basis of criteria, including if they could occur in drinking water, if they were monitored in previous cycles and their possible health effects. The data is collected by all public water systems that serve more than 10,000 people, as well as for many smaller systems.

Maruzzo and his colleagues analyzed EPA monitoring data Since 2013 and 2015 to verify the levels of four unregulated pollutants in the drinking water supplied by more than 4,800 public water systems.

The researchers analyzed industrial pollutants instead of other chemicals, such as disinfection by -products or agricultural chemicals, which have been the focus of other monitoring cycles. They also limited their list to pollutants that were frequent enough to allow strict statistical analysis.

Ultimately, they focused on per-are substances and Policuoroalquilo (PFA), which are several chemically similar compounds used in a variety of products, including foam packaging and fire extinction foods; Industrial solvents 1.4-Dioxan and 1.1-Decloroetan; and Chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), used as refrigerant and propellant.

More than a quarter of public water systems in the data set, which collectively serves more than 97 million people, detected at least one of the four pollutants in the drinking water they supplied. The most commonly detected pollutant was 1.4-Dioxan, which can cause The irritation of the eyes and nose at low levels of exposure and can lead to serious kidney and hepatic problems when present at high levels.

Not everyone’s drinking water is the same

The study also found that counties with greater proportions of Hispanic and non -Hispanic black residents were more likely to obtain their drinking water from public water systems that detected unregulated industrial pollutants. This association persisted in socioeconomic state indicators, such as income, housing property and the proportion of poverty residents. In addition, this association could not explain why the public water systems were so close to the sources of industrial pollutants.

“Unfortunately, we have known for stories of color communities that the problems of environmental justice and the quality of drinking water exist in many places,” said Maruzzo. “[Those stories] They were completely backed by the data and our analysis. “

“This study highlights the urgency of specific investments and creative ways to help drinking water suppliers, particularly in disadvantaged communities,” said Cushing. Minimizing the levels of these emerging pollutants in drinking water is vital because exposure to some of the pollutants analyzed in this study may there may be Serious health effects. PFA, for example, have been associated with Greater incidence of several cancers. Generalized concerns about their dangers led to the EPA to announce The first set of legally enforceable levels for six PFA compounds in April 2024.

“The problem can be worse than we think,” said Cushing. The nature of the data collected by the EPA and analyzed in this study meant that some demographic nuances had been lost, and the inequalities found in this study could be more pronounced.

“Looking at the county level can average some demographic data,” he said Laurel SchaiderEnvironmental Chemist at Silent Spring Institute and co -author of the new study. “For example, we know for previous studies in the Central Valley of California, when smaller geographical scales are observed, there may be quite large differences in the demography of communities that are most affected by water pollution.” Schaider said that he anticipated that the most recent EPA data sets will allow home researchers about social and demographic inequalities on a much thinner scale.

Another problem is that smaller public water systems and private wells are required to measure as many potential pollutants as larger systems. “These smaller or private systems may be more vulnerable to poor water quality and have less capacity to deal with pollutants,” said Cushing. “There is no data does not mean any problem.”

According to Maruzzo, the next steps must include more to protect water sources from being contaminated first. “In addition, there should be more support for communities underlined with water quality problems, so that systems in these communities can treat and evaluate unregulated pollutants and make sure they are providing clean drinking water.”

—Edityarup chakravorty (chakravo@gmail.com), scientific writer

Citation: Chakravorty, A. (2025), unregulated industrial pollutants detected in a little drinking water from the United States, EOS, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025o250058. Posted on February 11, 2025.

Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC -nd 3.0
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