Millions Drink Dirty Water

[Guest guest]

> From Aerielle Louise

> Mn.Talk Radio Network

> Jan. 11, 2002

>

> http://apnews.excite.com/article/20020109/

> D7GTPFGG0.html

>

> Study: Millions Drink Dirty Water

>

> By JOHN HEILPRIN

>

> Millions of Americans have been drinking tap water

> contaminated with chemical byproducts from

> chlorine that are far more than what studies

> suggest may be safe for pregnant women, two

> environmental groups say.

>

> Chlorine is commonly used to disinfect drinking

> water. When it is added to water that contains

> organic matter such as runoff from farms or lawns,

> however, it can form compounds such as chloroform

> that can cause illness.

>

> The study released Tuesday by the Environmental

> Working Group and Public Interest Research Groups

> identified areas that may have increased health

> risks including miscarriage, neural tube defects

> and reduced fetal growth from women drinking

> chlorination byproducts.

>

> " By failing to clean up rivers and reservoirs that

> provide drinking water for hundreds of millions of

> Americans, EPA and the Congress have forced water

> utilities to chlorinate water that is contaminated

> with animal waste, sewage, fertilizer, algae and

> sediment, " the report says.

>

> Jane Houlihan, EWG's research director, said the

> report also shows how that cleanup failure has " a

> direct impact on human health. " Pregnant women

> need to drink plenty of water, she said, but they

> can reduce their exposure to potential risks

> through simple measures such as home filters and

> purchasing bottled water.

>

> However, C.T. Howlett Jr., executive director of

> the Chlorine Chemistry Council, said government

> agencies found no compelling link between

> reproductive hazards and chlorinated water.

>

> He said chlorine has been added to drinking water

> for more than a century, and the environmental

> groups' study " may unnecessarily alarm the public

> and, in particular, pregnant women, about risks

> that are not supported by scientific evidence. "

>

> Catherine C. Milbourn, a spokeswoman for the

> Environmental Protection Agency, said, " EPA has

> standards in place for these byproducts and has

> set even stricter standards in 2002 that local

> water providers are beginning to implement. "

>

> Milbourn added that the EPA " has an ongoing health

> research program to provide additional scientific

> insight into the potential risks posed by

> disinfection byproducts. "

>

> Still, if the pregnancy studies are proved,

> millions could be at risk, said Dr. Robert Morris,

> an environmental epidemiologist at Tufts

> University School of Medicine in Boston.

>

> " That body of literature isn't necessarily

> conclusive but people ought to be aware of it, "

> Morris said. " It's pretty clear that some of these

> compounds can be pretty bad actors. The fact that

> these levels are as high as they are is certainly

> something to be concerned about. "

>

> The environmental groups combed water quality

> records in 29 states and the District of Columbia

> and matched them with various research into birth

> defects and miscarriages conducted by state and

> federal agencies and universities.

>

> The groups said the places statistically most at

> risk due to chlorination byproducts were those

> that are populous, lacked buffers from urban

> sprawl and were downstream from agricultural

> sites. But women in small towns generally face

> twice the risk from drinking high levels of the

> byproducts, Houlihan said.

>

> Matching high rates doesn't prove the

> environmental risk caused the health problems,

> however. Also, the results are limited because,

> among other reasons, such health records do not

> exist in some states.

>

> Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All right

> reserved. This material may not be published,

> broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

>