News Coverage
Better Runoff Prevention Programs Would Cut Chlorine-Linked Illnesses.
Published January 30, 2002
Chlorine used in tap water to kill microbes reacts in organic material to produce chlorination byproducts (CBPs) that raise the risk for more than 100,000 pregnant women to miscarry or have children with birth defects, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Reducing soil erosion so that nutrients from farms do not seep into drinking water sources would make drinking water cleaner and safer, rather than using more chlorine, the Washington, D.C.-based research organization said.
"Dirty source water going into the treatment plant means water contaminated with chlorination byproducts coming out of your tap," said Jan Houlihan, EWG's research director. "The solution to cleaning up our lakes, rivers and streams, not just bombarding our water supply with chlorine." In addition to the higher risks of miscarriages and birth defects, CBPs cause 9,300 cases of bladder cancer nationwide every year, EPA says.
Study May Cause Undue Alarm
The Chlorine Chemistry Council (CCC) said it was concerned the report may unnecessarily alarm the public about risks that are not supported by scientific evidence. EPA has said there is no evidence to indicate a reproductive or developmental hazard because of exposure to chlorinated water. The World Health Organization has released similar findings.
Chlorine has been added to drinking water for more than 100 years. As a result, waterborne diseases have essentially been eliminated in the United States, contributing to an increase in life expectancy by more than 25 years, CCC said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently declared U.S. drinking water as the safest it has been in 30 years.
In the first ever national analysis of CBPs in tap water from both large and small cities, EWG found from 1996 through 2001 more than 16 million people in 1,258 communities were served water contaminated with CBPs for at least 12 months at levels higher than a new legal limit that took effect Jan. 1, EWG said. The new rule lowers the allowable threshold for thihalomethanes, the most prevalent CBP, from 100 parts per billion (ppb) to 80 ppb for an average over a year.
EPA also has eliminated an exemption from health standards for systems serving fewer than 10,000 people. The agency also regulates haloacetic acids, another class of CBP, and two other byproducts called chlorite and bromate, for the first time.
To meet the 80-ppbtrihalomethane standard, many water systems are switching to a new chlorine compound, chloramine, to reduce pathogens in tap water. Chloramine appears to reduce peak levels of trihalomethanes, but adds a new complex of contaminants to the tap water supply that are not known well by scientists. Also, chloramines are known to be toxic to kidney dialysis patients and to fish.
EWG called for a more ambitious effort to address the long-term health threats of CBPs, putting greater emphasis on the need to pass a farm bill being considered by Congress, which would increase funding to farmland conservation programs that could protect waterways, curb sprawl and clean up tap water.
It also recommended creating a nationwide health-tracking network, coordinated by the CDC, that would monitor Americans' exposure to pollution and would track birth defects, miscarriages and other diseases linked to pollution.
