A new study found drinking water is often less safe than what the federal government may deem legal.
By Alexis Tarrazi, Patch Staff
PRINCETON, NJ — Most Americans don’t think twice about drinking a glass of water. A report released Wednesday, though, found more than 270 harmful contaminants in local drinking water across the nation, including in Princeton. The substances are linked to cancer, damage to the brain and nervous system, hormonal disruption, problems in pregnancy and other serious health conditions.
The nonprofit Environmental Working Group, collaborating with outside scientists, aggregated and analyzed data from almost 50,000 local water utilities in all 50 states.
Read more on the Environmental Working Group’s data sources and methodology.
The organization found a troubling discrepancy between the current legal limits for contaminants and the most recent authoritative studies of what is safe to consume.
“Legal does not necessarily equal safe,” Sydney Evans, a science analyst at the environmental group, told Patch.
“A lot of these legal limits are outdated and not necessarily the safe level, and the EWG really wants to fill that gap,” Evans said. “The federal government has not been able to, or is not willing to, set those new regulations to protect public health. We’re trying to fill the gap to let people know, based on the latest science, what the safe levels of contaminants in water are.”
In Princeton, the group found 31 contaminants across our water supply between 2012 and 2017.
NJ American Water – Raritan served 615,430 people, according to the environmental group.
The following contaminants were detected above the environmental group’s own recommended health guidelines in Princeton:
1. 1,4-Dioxane
- Potential Effect: Cancer
- 2.2 times the rate of suggested EWG guideline
- 0.779 parts per billion is the rate this contaminant appears in NJ American Water – Raritan’s utility
- The EWG’s health guideline is 0.35 parts per billion
- There is no legal limit set for this contaminant
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