Unsafe Levels of Uranium Found in U.S. Drinking Water With Those in Midwest, South Most at-Risk

Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that drinking water in some parts of the U.S., particularly in the south and Midwest, had elevated levels of uranium.

According to Daily Mail, Columbia University researchers analyzed nationwide data and compared it to the EPA's safety standards. Researchers found that many localities in the south, Midwest, and western regions had unsafe levels of uranium detected in their drinking water.

Safety standards noted that small amounts of many chemicals are acceptable in water. However, consistent exposure to it in drinking water can cause deadly and debilitating diseases.

The researchers' findings were published in The Lancet Planetary Healthy earlier this month. The researchers gathered data from 2000 to 2011 for the study, reviewing metal levels from around 38,000 sites.

In total, almost two-thirds of the sites tested had some sort of uranium contamination. Aside from uranium, levels of antimony, arsenic, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, mercury, selenium, and thallium have also been studied.

Uranium Levels in Drinking Water in Midwest and South Regions

The highest concentrations of uranium tended to be found in the Southwest and Central Midwest regions. In particular, some counties across Kansas and Nebraska were displaying the highest levels of uranium.

According to the Columbia University study, semi-urban and Hispanic communities were at most risk of being exposed to high levels of uranium, selenium, barium, chromium, and arsenic concentrations.

The study authors noted that it likely represents ongoing regulatory failures to protect marginalized communities and ensure safe drinking water for them.

The research has found that high levels of other contaminants in water, such as lead, are more likely to affect neighborhoods with higher poverty rates.

According to Gizmodo, it may help explain the higher rates of chronic illness and overall worse health often seen in Hispanic/Latino populations and poorer neighborhoods.

The researchers noted that uranium is an under-recognized contaminant in community water systems. Exposure to a low concentration of uranium, which is a metallic and radioactive element often associated with nuclear power, is thought to pass through our bodies quickly. However, high levels of uranium exposure can be fatal.

Anne Nigra, assistant professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, said earlier studies had found connections between chronic uranium exposure and increased risk of hypertension. It has also been linked to cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, and lung cancer at high levels of exposure.

Uranium in U.S. Drinking Water

Around 90 percent of Americans rely on public drinking water systems. Researchers called for further investment and regulation to prevent suffering from uranium exposure, hoping their study can motivate policymakers to enact needed reforms to keep drinking water free of uranium.

Nigra said additional regulatory policies, compliance enforcement, and improved infrastructure are necessary to reduce disparities in community water systems (CWS) metal concentrations and "protect communities served by public water systems with elevated metal concentrations."

"Such interventions and policies should specifically protect the most highly exposed communities to advance environmental justice and protect public health," Nigra noted.

Elevated levels of arsenic, barium, chromium, and selenium were found in community drinking water as well, but not to the same extent as uranium. EPA has established a maximum contaminant level for uranium of 30 micrograms per liter in drinking water.

EPA finalized this maximum contaminant level for uranium of 30 micrograms per liter in December 2000. However, before this, EPA did not have a limit specific to uranium in drinking water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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