Pure Water Occasional, April, 2024
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In this Great Eclipse Occasional you'll read about chloride, eliminating typhoid fever with water treatment, the important new PFAS rule from the EPA, installing backwashing filters in parallel, how to size a water softener, what water does for your body, threats to New Mexico's rivers, growing concerns over nitrate pollution, Perrier's bacteria problem, the jet fuel spill on Oahu, how to protect your home's water against nitrates, and, as always, much, much more.
Thank you for reading, and sincere thanks from Pure Water Products for your continuing support. |
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The top water news story of the month is the EPA's announcement of PFAs Limits on US Drinking Water
PFAS Basics. The Significance of the EPA’s Recently Imposed Limits on PFAS Levels in Drinking Water
Extracted from a Statement from Guardian Editor Georgia Warren
April 2024
With so many big, splashy headlines fighting for our attention every day, it’s easy to miss those vital stories that build drip by drip, slowly over many years.
For those who haven’t been following this story, this acronym masks a dangerous issue that everyone with a human body should be aware of.
OK, so what are PFAS?
PFAS (short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of about 15,000 human-made chemical compounds used widely in manufacturing to make products resistant to water, stains or heat – meaning they’re in everything from aerospace engineering components to takeout containers. Also known as “forever chemicals”, PFAS are unable to break down naturally in the environment or in our bodies.
Why should we care about them?
In recent years, scientists have discovered that exposure to PFAS is linked to a myriad of serious health problems, including cancer, obesity and birth defects. While many of the vast number of PFAS compounds remain unstudied, it is understood today that any exposure to some of the known highly toxic varieties is considered a health and cancer risk.
Are we all being exposed to these chemicals?
In short: yes – everywhere, all the time. In the past two months alone, the Guardian has published stories revealing that PFAS are entering our bodies via sources as disparate as bandages, artificial turf, plastic sandwich baggies and household dust. However, our biggest exposure to PFAS is via our food and water – which takes us to this week’s big news.
What happened with PFAS this week?
On Wednesday, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced legally enforceable drinking water limits for a group of the most dangerous PFAS compounds, after years of issuing only advisories. All US water providers will soon have to test their water and then install treatment systems that can filter PFAS if the results exceed EPA limits.
Is the PFAS problem solved then?
Is there hope for further action?
According to reporter Tom Perkins, who has been leading our PFAS coverage and provided this excellent analysis on the state of play following the EPA’s announcement this week: “Where there’s most hope is at the state level, where legislatures have started banning PFAS for all non-essential uses. It’s already happening in Maine and Minnesota. In turn, that creates market pressure on companies to stop using the chemicals altogether, because what are you going to do: produce shoes that can be sold in Mississippi but not in Maine? That wouldn’t make any sense.” Indeed, 3M, one of the world’s largest producers of the chemicals, announced last year that it would no longer make the compounds, citing in part the regulatory and legal environment.
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What Water Does for You
Drinking water at bedtime does more than make you pee
Hydration
Drinking
a glass of water before bedtime helps the body replenish the fluids it
loses during the day. The human body is mostly water, and it is vital to
keep it hydrated so it works properly. The body doesn’t need to excrete
a lot of fluid during sleep so providing it with water before bedtime
helps it to maintain hydration.
Water helps the body burn calories efficiently
Keeping
your body well hydrated increases its metabolic efficiency and helps it
maintain an ideal weight. Water is a natural calorie-burner. Many
people sip ice water to burn calories and help lose weight. The belief
is that cool water makes the body work double time to keep warm and this
burns calories. Clearly, if you drink a lot of cold water at bedtime
you will burn extra calories making trips to the bathroom. That's our
theory, anyway.
Water helps you sleep
Drinking
water naturally balances the body’s vitamins, nutrients and minerals,
replenishing what it burns up during the day. Drinking water before bed
balances the body’s hormones, energy levels, muscles and joints, which
relaxes the body. During sleep, water has time to reach and
replenish every part of the body. Many people feel that they sleep more
soundly and consistently by drinking water before bed, leaving muscles,
vitamins and minerals in harmony.
Water clears your body of toxins
One
of the best benefits of drinking water is that it acts as a natural
cleanser. The body attracts many toxins from food and the environment.
Cleaning it out consistently helps keep it healthy and functioning well.
Drinking water before bed will provide your body with the cleaning
agent and the time to clear out your system. The digestive tract,
muscles and skin benefit from the cleansing process. Clearly, the
cleanest water you can get is best at clearing your body of toxins.
Along
with all of the normal health benefits of drinking water, simply having
a glass before bedtime each night can have a big and positive effect on
lifestyle. People find that they sleep better and have more energy.
Improved digestion, weight loss, greater alertness and a general
feeling of well-being can result from a nightcap of good old H2O.
The above was adapted from an article in Water Technology magazine.
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Water News —April, 2024
Leading Water News Stories for April 2024
Without question, the month’s leading water story was the EPA’s announcement of the establishment of enforceable limits for PFAS.
“A huge victory for public health”
The EPA has published its National Primary Drinking Water Regulation for six PFAS chemicals. The ruling includes Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL), the legally enforceable limits, and MCL Goals for six PFAS chemicals.
The rule is expected to take effect in 2027 and requires public water systems to monitor and notify the public of the levels of these PFAS in water supplies. The rule also allows public water systems five years to reduce PFAS exposure if they exceed these MCLs and implement solutions by 2029.
This is a significant achievement.
New Mexico’s rivers, which include the Rio Grande, Gila, San Juan and Pecos, are America’s most threatened waterways, according to a new report. This is largely due to a 2023 US supreme court decision that left more than 90% of the state’s surface waters without federal protections from industrial pollution, according to state officials.
Consumer Reports has found unhealthy levels of pesticides in about 20% of US produce and The Guardian detailed the six fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide risk – blueberries, bell peppers, potatoes, watermelons, green beans, and kale and mustard greens.
Ocean waves crashing on the world’s shores emit more PFAS into the air than the world’s industrial polluters, new research has found, raising concerns about environmental contamination and human exposure along coastlines.
The EPA has been asked to address a “long-ignored health crisis” in Iowa drinking water stemming from dangerously high nitrate levels. According to a legal petition filed by environmental and health advocacy groups last week, “For decades, Northeast Iowa residents have been exposed to dangerous levels of nitrate contaminated water. As the state reckons with high cancer levels and ongoing pollution regulation rollbacks, federal action is needed to safeguard the right to clean water. EPA must exercise emergency authority to hold polluters accountable and deliver safe drinking water in Iowa.”
The mayor of Paris expressed confidence that water quality in the river Seine will allow Olympic swimming.
In Mexico, angry subsistence farmers are staging a revolt against the thirsty avocado orchards of corporate farmers.
Just 56 companies are responsible for more than 50% of the world’s plastic pollution, according to a study published in Science Advances. The top five polluters were the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, accounting for 24% of the total branded count.
Because of extreme heat and severe drought, several major cities in Mexico are facing a shortage in their water supply.
The U.S. government, in what an attorney says is a “monumental admission,” said last year that it caused injury to thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when jet fuel from its storage facility leaked into the drinking water system.
Perrier has been ordered to destroy two million bottles of water after bacteria “of faecal origin” was discovered in one of its wells in Gard, in southern France.
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Your Drinking Water May Harbor Cancer-Causing Nitrate
By Steven Reinberg
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Millions of tons of
nitrate from industrial farming find their way into America’s drinking
water each year, causing thousands of cases of cancer and other health
problems, an environmental advocacy group says.
In a new
report, researchers from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) quantify
the risk. They say nitrate is responsible for nearly 12,600 cases of
cancer a year.
“Industrialized
farming relies heavily on nitrate fertilizers that can run off into the
water table used by drinking water utilities,” said Sydney Evans, a
science analyst at EWG.
The risk
varies from region to region, she said, noting that many small farming
communities have the highest nitrate levels in their water — and the
highest risk. Iowa and California, two heavily agricultural states, were
found to have the most nitrate-related cancer cases.
A Yale University researcher who reviewed the report said the danger it highlights is clear and exists throughout the country.
“An
immediate response is warranted, so that we are not poisoning our water
to produce our food,” said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin
Prevention Research Center in New Haven, Connecticut.
The report
said 80% of the nitrate-related cancers were colorectal, with ovarian,
thyroid, kidney and bladder cancer accounting for the rest. Treatment
costs up to $1.5 billion a year, according to the report.
Nitrate in
tap water also has been tied to serious health issues for infants, the
researchers said. Among them: nearly 3,000 babies with very low birth
weight; more than 1,700 preterm births; and 41 cases of neural tube
defects each year in the United States.
Katz said
that although the study has limitations, it makes a compelling case that
nitrates from what he described as “agriculture as usual” in the United
States are “imposing grave costs measured in both lives and dollars.”
Meanwhile,
Evans called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
revisit its public health standards for drinking water. A main mission
of her group is to prevent nitrate from fouling drinking water.
Since
1962, the federal standard for nitrate in drinking water has stood at 10
milligrams per liter. The report said problems have been found at
one-tenth of that level.
The EPA
was slated to re-evaluate its standards with an eye to reducing the
permissible level in drinking water, but the Trump administration
canceled those plans, Evans said.
For tap water to be safe, she said, nitrate levels would have to be 70 times lower than today.
Nitrate is
hard and costly to filter out of water, Evans said. Some towns and
cities, however, do remove it and pass along the cost to residents.
Private
wells can also have high nitrate levels. People who rely on well water
have to spend thousands of dollars to add reverse osmosis systems if
they want to remove nitrate, Evans said.
The best
policy, she said, is to prevent large quantities of nitrate from getting
into the water in the first place. It’s up to the government to set
safe standards and make sure the farm industry adheres to them, she
added.
The report was published June 11 in the journal Environmental Research.
More information
Pure Water Gazette Commentary:
Nitrate removal for individual homes is not as difficult or expensive
as the article implies. Reverse osmosis undersink drinking water systems
are moderately priced and readily available. Also, nitrate is a
drinking water issue: whole house treatment is normally unnecessary.
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Are Nitrates Taken in Through the Skin?
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There is growing
evidence that nitrates in water are a serious threat to human health,
that nitrate levels in water supplies, both public and private, are
steadily increasing, and that the longstanding 10 part per million
regulatory allowable is way too lenient.
The bright
side of the nitrate issue, though, is that home treatment for nitrates
is relatively easy and inexpensive. Like many other problem
contaminants, lead, arsenic, and PFAS, for example, nitrates are almost
entirely an ingestion issue. Nitrates are dangerous when swallowed, but
of no great concern for other household exposures like bathing, washing
clothing, or cleaning.
Here’s what the World Health Organization says:
Using
a multiroute exposure assessment approach (Krishnan & Carrier,
2008), it was found, on the basis of the estimated skin permeability
coefficients and the air to water concentration values, that dermal and
inhalation exposures to nitrate or nitrite through showering or
bathing were not significant (Health Canada, 2013). WHO: Nitrate and Nitrite in Drinking Water.
Similarly, the US Environmental Protection Agency says:
Nitrates
in water used for showering or bathing is not a health concern.
Nitrates in drinking water above the federal standard (10mg/L) can be
very harmful if ingested, so a treatment device on taps that dispense
water primarily for drinking or cooking is recommended.
The Oregon State Health Authority says
that high nitrate water should not be used for drinking or preparing
food, but that it is safe for gardening, washing dishes, cleaning, and
laundry. Bathing? “Nitrate does not
easily enter the body through the skin. Bathing, swimming and showering
with water that has levels of nitrate over 10 mg/L is safe as long as
you avoid swallowing the water. Supervise small children when they are
bathing and brushing teeth to ensure they do not swallow the water.”
The
practical lesson from this is that point of use treatment for nitrates
is the easy solution. An undersink reverse osmosis unit or a small
undersink filter with a nitrate cartridge can provide high quality
drinking water. Nitrate removal for water for the rest of the home is
not essential.
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Places to visit for additional information:
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Pure Water Products, LLC, 523A N. Elm St., Denton, TX, 76201. www.purewaterproducts.com. Call us at 888 382 3814, or email pwp@purewaterproducts.com. |
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