Selections based upon extensive external input

WASHINGTON - EPA is releasing its third list of drinking water contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems and may require regulation. EPA will continue to evaluate and collect data on the contaminants, and determine by 2013 for some of them whether or not to propose drinking water regulations.

The contaminant candidate list (CCL 3) includes 104 chemical contaminants or groups and 12 microbes. Among them are contaminants, pesticides, disinfection byproducts, pharmaceuticals, chemicals used in commerce, waterborne pathogens and algal toxins. The agency’s selection of the contaminants builds upon evaluations used for previous lists and is based on substantial expert input and recommendations from different groups including stakeholders, the National Research Council and the National Drinking Water Advisory Council.

EPA will make regulatory determinations for at least five contaminants in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. For those CCL 3 contaminants that lack sufficient information for a regulatory determination by 2013, EPA will encourage research to provide the information needed.

The agency evaluated approximately 7,500 chemicals and microbes and selected 116 candidates for the final list based on their potential to pose health risks through drinking water exposure.

The agency considered the best available health effects and occurrence data and information to evaluate unregulated contaminants.

A draft CCL 3 was published for review and comment on February 21, 2008. EPA reviewed and analyzed the information provided in the comments in developing the final CCL 3.

More information on the contaminant candidate list: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccl

BOULDER, CO — Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found that showerheads potentially deliver an unhealthy level of pathogenic bacteria when a shower is first turned on, according to September 14 University of Colorado news release.

The researchers used high-tech instruments and lab methods to analyze roughly 50 showerheads from nine cities in seven states that included New York City, Chicago and Denver. They concluded about 30 percent of the devices harbored significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, a pathogen linked to pulmonary disease that most often infects people with compromised immune systems but which can occasionally infect healthy people, said CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Norman Pace, lead study author.

Pace said it is not surprising to find pathogens in municipal waters. However, the CU-Boulder researchers found that some M. avium and related pathogens were clumped together in slimy “biofilms” that clung to the inside of showerheads at more than 100 times the “background” levels of municipal water.

“If you are getting a face full of water when you first turn your shower on, that means you are probably getting a particularly high load of Mycobacterium avium, which may not be too healthy,” Pace is quoted saying.

The study appeared in the September 14 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is part of a larger effort by Pace and his colleagues to assess the microbiology of indoor environments and was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

During the early stages of the study, the CU team tested showerheads from smaller towns and cities, many of which were using well water rather than municipal water. “We were starting to conclude that pathogen levels we detected in the showerheads were pretty boring,” according to Leah Feazel, first author on the study. “Then we worked up the New York data and saw a lot of M. avium. It completely reinvigorated the study.”

New York City draws its water from surface water reservoirs in the Catskill Mountains, north of the city.

In addition to using a showerhead swabbing technique, Feazel took several individual showerheads, broke them into tiny pieces, coated them with gold, used a fluorescent dye to stain the surfaces and used a scanning electron microscope to look at the surfaces in detail. “Once we started analyzing the big metropolitan data, it suddenly became a huge story to us,” said Feazel.

In Denver, one showerhead in the study with high loads of the pathogen Mycobacterium gordonae was cleaned with a bleach solution in an attempt to eradicate it, said Pace. Tests on the showerhead several months later showed the bleach treatment ironically caused a three-fold increase in M. gordonae, indicating a general resistance of mycobacteria species to chlorine.

Pace said since plastic showerheads appear to “load up” with more pathogen-enriched biofilms, metal showerheads may be a good alternative.

“There are lessons to be learned here in terms of how we handle and monitor water,” said Pace, a recipient of the National Academy of Sciences highest award in microbiology called the Selman Waxman Award. “Water monitoring in this country is frankly archaic. The tools now exist to monitor it far more accurately and far less expensively that what is routinely being done today.”

NEW YORK — An estimated 1 in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways, an investigation by The New York Times has found. A report of the investigation was published in the September 13 edition of the newspaper.

To read the full report, click here.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority this month launched proactive efforts to ensure the safety of its source water and treated water by looking for pharmaceuticals, according to a September 1 Associated Press story.

The authority draws drinking water from the Rio Grande, a major river in the Southwest. Recent water quality sampling detected caffeine in the Rio Grande and trace levels of pharmaceuticals in the Rio Grande Valley’s irrigation system.

In an effort to measure potential contamination from pharmaceuticals in the Rio Grande, the authority is testing in parts per trillion for both raw and treated versions of drinking water and wastewater. As part of the program, the authority also is launching a consumer education campaign for Albuquerque residents on how to properly dispose of old and unwanted medications.

Alan Armijo, chairman of the Bernalillo County Commission and vice chair of the water authority, is quoted saying, “It’s our life line here and we are now using it for drinking water and we don’t want it polluted downstream or here.”

The water authority also will participate in a yearlong study by the Water Research Foundation to evaluate the effectiveness of specific filter techniques to remove pharmaceuticals from water.

So, what can you do to ensure healthy drinking water for you and your family?

Well it seems very clear from just about every angle your best option would be to filter your water at home with a high quality filter.

After carefully studying this issue for well over a year it is very clear to me that the most cost effective and practical solution for nearly every family is to use a high quality water filter in your home.  But there are a number of crucial issues about filters in order to select the best filter AND to use it to remove the maximum amount of DBPs to protect you and your family.

One of the key components in a home filter system is that it should remove fluoride for the reasons discussed above.  Unfortunately most all carbon based filters do not remove fluoride.

Here are my other recommendations that should be on your checklist:

• Filter out chlorine as well as fluoride – Absolutely no exceptions on these!
• Remove inorganic contaminants like lead, aluminum, mercury, iron, sulfur, and lime scale
• Remove organic contaminants like herbicides, pesticides, THMs (disinfection byproducts), and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that may effect the quality, odor, and taste of your drinking water
• Create a bacteriostatic environment – Must remove bacteria from the water
• Be environmentally smart and help conserve water and energy