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From seawater to drinking water, with the push of a button

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MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water.

The suitcase-sized device, which requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger, can also be driven by a small, portable solar panel, which can be purchased online for around $50. It automatically generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization quality standards. The technology is packaged into a user-friendly device that runs with the push of one button.

Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water. Eliminating the need for replacement filters greatly reduces the long-term maintenance requirements.

This could enable the unit to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas, such as communities on small islands or aboard seafaring cargo ships. It could also be used to aid refugees fleeing natural disasters or by soldiers carrying out long-term military operations.

“This is really the culmination of a 10-year journey that I and my group have been on. We worked for years on the physics behind individual desalination processes, but pushing all those advances into a box, building a system, and demonstrating it in the ocean, that was a really meaningful and rewarding experience for me,” says senior author Jongyoon Han, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and of biological engineering, and a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE).

Joining Han on the paper are first author Junghyo Yoon, a research scientist in RLE; Hyukjin J. Kwon, a former postdoc; SungKu Kang, a postdoc at Northeastern University; and Eric Brack of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). The research has been published online in Environmental Science and Technology.

Filter-free technology

Commercially available portable desalination units typically require high-pressure pumps to push water through filters, which are very difficult to miniaturize without compromising the energy-efficiency of the device, explains Yoon.

Instead, their unit relies on a technique called ion concentration polarization (ICP), which was pioneered by Han’s group more than 10 years ago. Rather than filtering water, the ICP process applies an electrical field to membranes placed above and below a channel of water. The membranes repel positively or negatively charged particles — including salt molecules, bacteria, and viruses — as they flow past. The charged particles are funneled into a second stream of water that is eventually discharged.

The process removes both dissolved and suspended solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel. Since it only requires a low-pressure pump, ICP uses less energy than other techniques.

But ICP does not always remove all the salts floating in the middle of the channel. So the researchers incorporated a second process, known as electrodialysis, to remove remaining salt ions.

Yoon and Kang used machine learning to find the ideal combination of ICP and electrodialysis modules. The optimal setup includes a two-stage ICP process, with water flowing through six modules in the first stage then through three in the second stage, followed by a single electrodialysis process. This minimized energy usage while ensuring the process remains self-cleaning.

“While it is true that some charged particles could be captured on the ion exchange membrane, if they get trapped, we just reverse the polarity of the electric field and the charged particles can be easily removed,” Yoon explains.

They shrunk and stacked the ICP and electrodialysis modules to improve their energy efficiency and enable them to fit inside a portable device. The researchers designed the device for nonexperts, with just one button to launch the automatic desalination and purification process. Once the salinity level and the number of particles decrease to specific thresholds, the device notifies the user that the water is drinkable.

The researchers also created a smartphone app that can control the unit wirelessly and report real-time data on power consumption and water salinity.

Beach tests

After running lab experiments using water with different salinity and turbidity (cloudiness) levels, they field-tested the device at Boston’s Carson Beach.

Yoon and Kwon set the box near the shore and tossed the feed tube into the water. In about half an hour, the device had filled a plastic drinking cup with clear, drinkable water.

“It was successful even in its first run, which was quite exciting and surprising. But I think the main reason we were successful is the accumulation of all these little advances that we made along the way,” Han says.

The resulting water exceeded World Health Organization quality guidelines, and the unit reduced the amount of suspended solids by at least a factor of 10. Their prototype generates drinking water at a rate of 0.3 liters per hour, and requires only 20 watt-hours per liter.

“Right now, we are pushing our research to scale up that production rate,” Yoon says.

One of the biggest challenges of designing the portable system was engineering an intuitive device that could be used by anyone, Han says.

Yoon hopes to make the device more user-friendly and improve its energy efficiency and production rate through a startup he plans to launch to commercialize the technology.

In the lab, Han wants to apply the lessons he’s learned over the past decade to water-quality issues that go beyond desalination, such as rapidly detecting contaminants in drinking water.

“This is definitely an exciting project, and I am proud of the progress we have made so far, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he says.

For example, while “development of portable systems using electro-membrane processes is an original and exciting direction in off-grid, small-scale desalination,” the effects of fouling, especially if the water has high turbidity, could significantly increase maintenance requirements and energy costs, notes Nidal Hilal, professor of engineering and director of the New York University Abu Dhabi Water research center, who was not involved with this research.

“Another limitation is the use of expensive materials,” he adds. “It would be interesting to see similar systems with low-cost materials in place.”

The research was funded, in part, by the DEVCOM Soldier Center, the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), the Experimental AI Postdoc Fellowship Program of Northeastern University, and the Roux AI Institute.

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Prof. Jongyoon Han and research scientist Junghyo Yoon have developed a new portable desalination device that can deliver safe drinking water at the push of a button, reports Meghan Gunn and Kerri Anne Renzulli for Newsweek . The device “requires less power than a cell phone charger to run and produces clean drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization standards,” writes Gunn and Renzulli.

Researchers from MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics have developed a portable desalinator that can turn seawater into safe drinking water, reports Ian Mount for Fortune . Research scientist Jongyoon Han and graduate student Bruce Crawford have created Nona Technologies to commercialize the product, writes Mount.

MIT researchers have “developed a free-floating desalination unit consisting of a multilayer evaporator that recycles the heat generated when the water vapor condenses, boosting its overall efficiency,” reports Nell Lewis for CNN. “Researchers suggested it could be configured as a floating panel on the sea, delivering freshwater through pipes to the shore, or it could be designed to serve a single household, using it atop a tank of seawater,” writes Lewis.

Fast Company

MIT researchers developed a suitcase-sized, portable desalination device that can turn salt water into drinking water with the push of a button, reports Elissaveta M. Brandon for Fast Company . Brandon writes that the device could be a “vital tool for remote island communities, seafaring cargo ships, and even refugee camps located near water.”

Motherboard

Motherboard reporter Audrey Carleton writes that MIT researchers have developed a “filter-less portable desalination device that uses an electrical field generated by solar energy to repel charged particles like salt, bacteria, and viruses.” Research Scientist Junghyo Yoon explains that: “All indicators tell us that water scarcity is a growing problem for everyone due to rising sea levels. We don’t hope for a grim future, but we want to help people be prepared for it.” 

The Daily Beast

A new portable, solar-powered desalination device developed by MIT researchers can create potable drinking water with the push of a button, reports Tony Ho Tran for The Daily Beast . “The device doesn’t rely on any filters like traditional desalination machines,” writes Tran. “Instead, it zaps the water with electric currents to remove minerals such as salt particles from the water.”

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Recent advancements in water treatment

For immediate release, acs news service weekly presspac: january 19, 2022.

Generating clean, safe water is becoming increasingly difficult. Water sources themselves can be contaminated, but in addition, some purification methods can cause unintended harmful byproducts to form. And not all treatment processes are created equal with regard to their ability to remove impurities or pollutants. Below are some recent papers published in ACS journals that report insights into how well water treatment methods work and the quality of the resulting water. Reporters can request free access to these papers by emailing  newsroom@acs.org .

“Drivers of Disinfection Byproduct Cytotoxicity in U.S. Drinking Water: Should Other DBPs Be Considered for Regulation?” Environmental Science & Technology Dec.15, 2021

In this paper, researchers surveyed both conventional and advanced disinfection processes in the U.S., testing the quality of their drinking waters. Treatment plants with advanced removal technologies, such as activated carbon, formed fewer types and lower levels of harmful disinfection byproducts (known as DBPs) in their water. Based on the prevalence and cytotoxicity of haloacetonitriles and iodoacetic acids within some of the treated waters, the researchers recommend that these two groups be considered when forming future water quality regulations.

“Complete System to Generate Clean Water from a Contaminated Water Body by a Handmade Flower-like Light Absorber” ACS Omega Dec. 9, 2021 As a step toward a low-cost water purification technology, researchers crocheted a coated black yarn into a flower-like pattern. When the flower was placed in dirty or salty water, the water wicked up the yarn. Sunlight caused the water to evaporate, leaving the contaminants in the yarn, and a clean vapor condensed and was collected. People in rural locations could easily make this material for desalination or cleaning polluted water, the researchers say.

“Data Analytics Determines Co-occurrence of Odorants in Raw Water and Evaluates Drinking Water Treatment Removal Strategies” Environmental Science & Technology Dec. 2, 2021

Sometimes drinking water smells foul or “off,” even after treatment. In this first-of-its-kind study, researchers identified the major odorants in raw water. They also report that treatment plants using a combination of ozonation and activated carbon remove more of the odor compounds responsible for the stink compared to a conventional process. However, both methods generated some odorants not originally present in the water.

“Self-Powered Water Flow-Triggered Piezocatalytic Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species for Water Purification in Simulated Water Drainage” ACS ES&T Engineering Nov. 23, 2021

Here, researchers harvested energy from the movement of water to break down chemical contaminants. As microscopic sheets of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) swirled inside a spiral tube filled with dirty water, the MoS2 particles generated electric charges. The charges reacted with water and created reactive oxygen species, which decomposed pollutant compounds, including benzotriazole and antibiotics. The researchers say these self-powered catalysts are a “green” energy resource for water purification.

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New research offers solutions to improve drinking water access in developing countries

In 2020, 771 million people worldwide still lacked access to clean drinking water, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

For this reason, many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) prioritize building new water projects, including handpumps and small piped systems, to bring clean water to rural areas of developing countries.

Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez

New research from Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, the Greg and Patty Fox Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations in the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, examines the critical problem of drinking water access in rural areas of developing countries and recommends optimal locations to build new water projects.

"Improving Drinking Water Access and Equity in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa," forthcoming in the journal Production and Operations Management , studies access to drinking water in Tigray, Ethiopia, where millions of people walk hours each day to access communal water. The study, co-authored by Chengcheng Zhai, Kurt Bretthauer and Jorge Mejia from Indiana University, pulls from field research conducted in Tigray and collaborations with local and international NGOs.

"The burden of getting water falls mostly on women and children," said Pedraza-Martinez, who specializes in humanitarian operations and disaster management. "It is not rare to see a woman accompanied by her children carrying a heavy jerrycan full of water back home in the scorching hot weather."

Due to a lack of local government solutions, NGOs build water projects that extract underground water to reduce the population's distance and time to access it. In collaboration with U.S. NGO Charity: Water and Ethiopian NGO Relief Society of Tigray, the team worked to understand the roles of the different stakeholders.

"Building water projects is expensive and funding is scarce," Pedraza-Martinez said. "NGOs must select locations for new water projects while navigating tight budget constraints and very limited access to data on demand locations.

"We discovered that communities actively participate in the management of existing water projects, so we propose that two neighbor communities collaborate, pooling their demand, to increase the potential supply for both communities."

The team created a unique dataset with current demand and distance to an existing water project in Tigray. Using analytics, they built an optimization or ideal solution (centralized model) that incorporates community collaboration, and compared its solutions with the current practice that serves each community separately.

The community collaboration model proved to be a better solution -- in terms of distance to water and equity in the access to water -- than the other models they considered. The "minimax" model adjusted the objective to minimizing the maximum distance to water and the equitable allocation model adjusted the current per capita budget allocations to assign more budget to beneficiaries who are further from water.

"When Ethiopian communities (kebeles) collaborate to access water as a single, larger community, it removes geopolitical boundaries for water purposes," Pedraza-Martinez said. "It gives people who live on the outskirts of one kebele the option of walking a shorter distance toward another to use a hand pump or other water source, rather than walking a longer distance to find one in their own kebele. If there is cooperation, this solution is very effective to reduce distance and increase equity."

Motivated by Ethiopia's current civil war, the team also created a model to study ways to improve drinking water access amid supply shocks.

The team is sharing its findings with Charity: Water, which is using the new model to inform the selection of locations for new water projects in Malawi and the Central African Republic, along with other countries. They also plan to publish a pedagogical case study to share their research findings with MBA programs around the world.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Notre Dame . Original written by Shannon Roddel. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Chengcheng Zhai, Kurt Bretthauer, Jorge Mejia, Alfonso Pedraza‐Martinez. Improving drinking water access and equity in rural Sub‐Saharan Africa . Production and Operations Management , 2023; DOI: 10.1111/poms.14016

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Scientists have invented a method to break down 'forever chemicals' in our drinking water. Here’s how

Most people come into contact with forever chemicals through food, consumer products or by drinking contaminated water. Image:  REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

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This article was published on 11 April 2023 and updated on 17 April 2024.

• Researchers have discovered a way to eliminate ‘forever chemicals’, or PFAS, which usually take hundreds or thousands of years to break down.
• These harmful chemicals are found in numerous everyday applications and can be ingested by humans through drinking water.
• The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 lists pollution as the 10th most pressing threat to society, both in the short and long term.

How long does it take toxic "forever chemicals" to break down? It’s a trick question, because as their nickname suggests, they don’t break down … at least not for hundreds or potentially thousands of years.

However, researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed a new water treatment that filters and removes harmful forever chemicals – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to use their proper name – from drinking water, safely, efficiently and permanently.

Where do PFAS come from?

You can’t see them with the naked eye. But with more than 4,700 substances in use, PFAS applications are more than likely in your home or workplace and often end up in the environment – specifically seeping into rainwater, soil, sediment and drinking water, where they can be ingested by humans and animals.

Industry has been using these manufactured chemicals since the 1940s: including to waterproof wet weather gear ; make non-stick cookware non-stick; in stain-resistant fabrics and carpets; some cosmetics; firefighting foams; products that are manufactured to be grease-, water- or oil-resistant; fast-food packaging; household products like shampoo and dental floss… the list goes on.

The cost to society of PFAS has recently been estimated at $17.5 trillion annually , while the manufacturers themselves make $4 billion per year in profits, reported the Guardian .

More than 90% of plastic is never recycled, and a whopping 8 million metric tons of plastic waste are dumped into the oceans annually. At this rate, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans by 2050.

The Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) is a collaboration between businesses, international donors, national and local governments, community groups and world-class experts seeking meaningful actions to beat plastic pollution.

In Ghana, for example, GPAP is working with technology giant SAP to create a group of more than 2,000 waste pickers and measuring the quantities and types of plastic that they collect. This data is then analysed alongside the prices that are paid throughout the value chain by buyers in Ghana and internationally.

It aims to show how businesses, communities and governments can redesign the global “take-make-dispose” economy as a circular one in which products and materials are redesigned, recovered and reused to reduce environmental impacts.

Read more about our impact .

How are PFAS removed from drinking water?

Lead scientist Dr Mohseni and his team at UBC have developed a unique silica-based material with a high capacity to absorb a range of PFAS from drinking water. The reusable material acts like a filter, trapping most of the harmful particles, which are then destroyed using unique electrochemical and photochemical processes developed by the researchers.

“Our absorbing media captures up to 99% of PFAS particles and can also be regenerated and potentially reused. This means that when we scrub off the PFAS from these materials, we do not end up with more highly toxic solid waste that will be another major environmental challenge,” said Dr Mohseni.

Separate research by scientists at Arizona State University in the US, uses microorganisms to break down PFAS.

Led by 2018 Stockholm Water Prize winner Bruce Rittmann, the team uses a specially modified membrane known as MCfR that causes a reaction in water , to attack the chemical composition of PFAS particles it contains. The water is then treated by microorganisms in a special reactor (MBfR) to break down the remaining pollutant particles, which possess among the strongest carbon bonds in chemistry.

“We use the MCfR to knock off a few to all of the fluorines, and then we hand that water with those compounds over to the microorganisms in the MBfR, and they finish the job,” said Rittmann.

What health impacts are associated with PFAS?

Most people come into contact with forever chemicals through food, consumer products or by drinking contaminated water. Exposure to PFAS has been linked to health problems such as liver damage, thyroid disease, obesity, fertility issues and cancer , according to the European Environment Agency.

Noxious particles from sprays, chemicals and treatments accumulate over time and can end up polluting waterways or being absorbed into the body from using certain cosmetics.

While PFAS are no longer used by manufacturers in countries like Canada, where the research was conducted, they are still found in various products.

Across the border, most people in the US have been exposed to PFAS and have traces of the pollutants in their blood , according to the Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

Blood levels of the most common PFAS in people in the US over time

However, the use of the most common types of forever chemicals has declined in the US, with tests of contamination levels in the blood of people in the US showing forever chemicals like PFOS levels have declined by more than 85%, and PFOA levels by more than 70% during the first two decades of the century. But as the main PFAS chemicals are phased out, they may be replaced by others that leave people exposed to health risks, the ATSDR notes.

Countries to enforce legislation on forever chemicals

Contaminants like forever chemicals are symptomatic of the wider pollution and environmental breakdown harming the planet.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 lists pollution as the 10th most pressing threat to society , both in the short and long term.

Meanwhile, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are ranked third in the top-10 list of perceived threats in the next 10 years.

Responding to the damage caused by pollutants, the US Federal government has set national limits on levels of toxic PFAS in drinking water , reports Smithsonian Magazine. Under the legislation, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has imposed a limit of four parts per trillion for two types of PFAS: PFOA and PFOS. Four other regulated compounds – PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and "GenX chemicals" – have individual limits imposed on their use.

Water providers in the US will have a three-year period to conduct tests and if the results show levels of PFAS chemicals in drinking water that exceed the specified levels, they will have two further years to install treatment systems to remove these toxins.

The EU and other countries are set to enforce legislation to restrict the widespread use of PFAS.

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World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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New Research Reveals How Critical Forests are to Drinking Water Supply

Access to high-quality water will be a defining feature of the 21 st century. Record heat waves and drought are not only leading to more frequent and intense wildfires but are also putting one of life’s most valuable resources at risk: the water we drink.

A new Forest Service research report describes how extensively public drinking water systems rely on national forests and grasslands.

Water use per person has been declining for decades; however, a variety of factors such as population growth, food production and ecosystem conditions under a changing climate are contributing to overall greater demand for water – especially in certain parts of the country.

In the West, national forests and grasslands supply drinking water to almost 90% of the people served by public water systems. Some western cities, like Aspen, Colorado, and Portland, Oregon, are more than 90% dependent on national forests alone for their drinking water. The story is similar in the eastern U.S., though most of this water is supplied by private forests.

Still, more than a century of research has demonstrated that forested lands provide the cleanest and most stable water supply compared to other lands. Within the lower 48 states, more than 99% of people who rely on public drinking water receive some from forested lands.

This report is the first of its kind to measure how individual national forests and grasslands contribute to surface drinking water supplies while accounting for networks of pipelines and canals that divert water from the source to areas of high need, also known as “inter-basin water transfers.”

These inter-basin transfers are incredibly important sources of drinking water, especially in the West, where cities like Los Angeles receive more than two-thirds of their water from forested lands in California and Colorado.

By showing where our drinking water comes from at a fine scale, this report supports USDA’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy , and work supported by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. It helps land managers prioritize forests and watersheds for hazardous fuels reduction, watershed management, and restoration treatments that protect people, communities and resources across the country.

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Researchers find a massive number of plastic particles in bottled water

James Doubek

Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. Jody Amiet/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water.

Microscopic pieces of plastic are everywhere . Now, they've been found in bottled water in concentrations 10 to 100 times more than previously estimated.

Researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

About 10% of the detected plastic particles were microplastics, and the other 90% were nanoplastics. Microplastics are between 5 millimeters to 1 micrometer; nanoplastics are particles less than 1 micrometer in size. For context, a human hair is about 70 micrometers thick.

Microplastics have already been found in people's lungs , their excrement , their blood and in placentas, among other places. A 2018 study found an average of 325 pieces of microplastics in a liter of bottled water.

Nanoplastics could be even more dangerous than microplastics because when inside the human body, "the smaller it goes, the easier for it to be misidentified as the natural component of the cell," says Wei Min, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University and one of the study's co-authors.

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The researchers used a technology involving two lasers called stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy to detect the particles and used machine learning to identify them. They searched for seven common types of plastic using this system: polyamide 66, polypropylene, polyethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate.

They tested three brands of bottled water; they did not identify the brands.

The particles they could identify accounted for only 10% of total particles they found — the rest could be minerals, or other types of plastics, or something else, says Beizhan Yan, a research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and a co-author on the study.

The International Bottled Water Association, an industry group that represents U.S. and international water bottlers and distributors, said in a statement that it has had "very limited notice and time" to review the study.

But the group said the new detection method "needs to be fully reviewed by the scientific community and more research needs to be done to develop standardized methods for measuring and quantifying nanoplastics in our environment."

The association said there is "no scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of nano- and microplastic particles." It added: "media reports about these particles in drinking water do nothing more than unnecessarily scare consumers."

The researchers hypothesize that some of the plastics in the bottled water could be shedding from, ironically enough, the plastic used in types of water filters.

Phoebe Stapleton, another study co-author who is a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Rutgers University, says researchers have known that nanoplastics were in water. "But if you can't quantify them or can't make a visual of them, it's hard to believe that they're actually there," she says.

The significance of their group's research is that it now "brings that to light, and not only provides what is a computer generated image, but it also allows for the quantification and even more importantly, the chemistry of that quantification," Stapleton says.

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They hope the research will lead to having a better understanding of how much plastic humans are regularly putting into their bodies and its effects.

Yan says they plan future research employing the same technology to look at plastic particles in tap water, in the air, in food and in human tissues. "This is basically just to open a new window for us to see [what was] this invisible world before."

Humans produce more than 440 million tons of plastic each year, according to the United Nations . About 80% of plastic ends up in landfills or the environment, researchers say.

Researchers discover thousands of nanoplastic bits in bottles of drinking water

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It seems anywhere scientists look for plastic, they find it: from the ice in Antarctica, to the first bowel movement produced by newborn babies.

Now, researchers are finding that the amount of microscopic plastics floating in bottled drinking water is far greater than initially believed.

Using sophisticated imaging technology, scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty laboratory examined water samples from three popular brands (they won’t say which ones) and found hundreds of thousands of bits of plastic per liter of water.

Ninety percent of those plastics were small enough to qualify as nanoplastics: microscopic flecks so small that they can be absorbed into human cells and tissue, as well as cross the blood-brain barrier.

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The research, which was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raises new concerns about the potentially harmful health effects — and prevalence — of nanoplastics. The researchers found that the quantity of such particles was 10 to 100 times greater than previously estimated.

“For a long time before this study, I actually thought that what was inside bottled water [in terms of] nanoplastics was just a few hundred PET particles,” said Naixin Qian, a Columbia chemistry graduate student and the study’s lead author. “It turns out to be much more than that.” PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is a type of clear plastic that is commonly used for single-use water bottles.

Microplastics — particles that range from 1 micrometer to 5 milimeters in size — have been documented in bottled and tap water for several years. But the identification of nanoplastics — particles that measure just billionths of a meter — is raising alarms.

The incredibly small size of nanoparticles allows them to behave differently than larger pieces of matter, said Beizhan Yan , a Columbia environmental chemist and a co-author of the study.

Pollutants and pathogens can be carried on the surface of a particle, and the smaller a particle gets, the larger its surface area-to-volume ratio becomes.

As a result, Yan said, “even if they’re not that toxic at a larger particle size, when they become smaller they become toxic, because they can interfere in the cells, in the tissues, inside of the organelles.”

Research on the effects of plastic on human health is still in its infancy. It’s only been recently that scientists have identified the presence of plastics in people’s bodies and organs.

But research on other animals suggests a strong, negative influence on health. In laboratory studies of fish and rodents, microplastics were shown to interfere with development, reproductive ability and health, gut health, hormone levels, immune responses, the heart and more.

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Study authors used a new type of microscope that can image the vibration of molecules to analyze the nanoparticles against a library of seven common plastics. They were unsurprised to find tiny bits of PET, as that’s what the bottles were made of. However, the amount of PET was dwarfed by the amount of polyamides, a form of nylon used in the reverse osmosis filters that water is run through before bottling.

Other plastics confirmed in the water in microscopic quantities include polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and polymethyl methacrylate, also known as plexiglass. But only 10% of the nanoparticles analyzed could be classified as one of those seven known plastics, the researchers found. The origin of the rest is unknown.

During the past several years, researchers have identified microplastics from the deepest oceanic waters to the snowy tops of the planet’s highest mountains. They’ve found it in human blood, lung tissue and in the brain , and in organisms ranging from worms and zooplankton to whales and polar bears.

In some cases, the particles are ingested with food and water. In other cases, they are inhaled — scientists have found them in outdoor and indoor air, as well as in clouds — or absorbed through the skin.

The laundering of synthetic clothing and the breaking down of automobile tires are two of the largest sources of airborne plastics.

“As people, we are in environments where plastic is everywhere,” Yan said.

There’s also evidence that these small particles bioaccumulate, or grow more concentrated as they move up the food chain from one organism to the next.

Though the Columbia study didn’t analyze samples of tap water, previous studies looking at microplastics have found much lower concentrations of those particles in tap water than in bottled water.

Food packaging is also a known source of plastic contamination in food. On Jan. 4, Consumer Reports released the results of its investigation into plastic chemicals in common processed foods widely available in the U.S.

Plastic chemicals and nanoplastics “are part of the same problem, but they’re two totally different animals,” said James E. Rogers, a microbiologist who is acting director of product safety at Consumer Reports. “One is a chemical and one is a physical piece, even if it is micro-sized.”

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Of the 85 food products tested, 84 had traces of phthalates, the most common type of chemical used to make plastic more durable. Nearly 80% of the foods contained bisphenols, another industrial chemical.

Both phthalates and bisphenols are known endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with the body’s hormonal systems. Exposure to these chemicals over time is associated with higher risks of diabetes, obesity, cancers and fertility problems, Rogers said.

“You may not be able to get to zero exposure, but at least you can reduce your risk by reducing your exposure,” Rogers said. “Cut out the fast food. Eat less processed foods. Eat less fatty food.”

Now that they’ve grossed us out about bottled water, the Columbia team are looking at how else they can use stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to seek out nanoplastics in other areas of life.

One project looks at the nanoplastics in exhaust and wastewater from commercial and residential washers and dryers. A pair of British adventurers currently trekking across Antarctica are collecting samples of snow for the team to analyze. The Columbia team is also collaborating with other research institutions to measure nanoplastics in human tissues and try to understand their effects on health.

And a group at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, are using artificial intelligence to help sort through the plastic bits they find in wastewater — providing a novel, and potentially more powerful and accurate, way of identifying different and often difficult to identify varieties of plastic in water samples.

“It’s an example of using AI for good,” said Wayne Parker, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the school.

Methods like AI, or the technology used by the Columbia team to identify micro- and nanoplastics, will enable researchers to better identify “and assess the risks of these of these particles” in the environment and in ourselves, Parker said.

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Corinne Purtill is a science and medicine reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her writing on science and human behavior has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Time Magazine, the BBC, Quartz and elsewhere. Before joining The Times, she worked as the senior London correspondent for GlobalPost (now PRI) and as a reporter and assignment editor at the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. She is a native of Southern California and a graduate of Stanford University.

Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues. She is based in the Bay Area.

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New research seeks solutions to clean drinking water without creating harmful chemicals.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is funding four new research projects into a fundamental drinking-water challenge: how to make sure water stays clean of illness-causing microbes without accidentally creating toxic chemicals.

The chemicals are called disinfection byproducts, and have been a known problem for years. Some 295 million people drink water where one type of byproduct has been detected at levels above the Environmental Working Group's suggested health guidelines, according to the advocacy group's drinking water database .

Part of the problem comes from a delicate balance in the water system. Many utilities add extra disinfectant at their treatment plants so that the water stays clean as it travels through water towers, water mains, service lines and, ultimately, to peoples' homes.

Add too little of the common disinfectants chlorine, chloramines or ozone, and pathogens like the bacteria Legionella can sneak into the system, researchers said. Add too much of these, and potentially dangerous disinfection byproducts can form.

A few of the byproducts already have drinking water limits enforced by the EPA. But many exist that are not regulated, and scientists are now racing to figure out exactly how big a problem they are — and how we can stop them from coming out of people's taps.

"Hopefully, we can make recommendations for what U.S. water utilities [should use to disinfect], depending maybe on the region they're in, the types of water sources that they are using," said Raymond Hozalski, an environmental engineer at the University of Minnesota.

His research team and three others received a combined $8.5 million this summer from the EPA to study what the right disinfection mix will look like.

It's not entirely clear why the chemicals created by disinfection are gaining new attention from the EPA now. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

"It's really good to see this kind of movement forward on this issue," said Sydney Evans, a senior science analyst with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. But, she added, "This has been an issue for a long time."

Potential problems with disinfection byproducts have been eclipsed in recent years by concerns over the toxic human-made chemicals known as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, said Patrick Shea, general manager of St. Paul Regional Water Services. The EPA finally proposed drinking water limits for some PFAS this year.

And over time, better technology has allowed scientists to detect more disinfection byproducts than in the past, said Mary Jo Kirisits, an environmental engineer at the University of Texas at Austin, who is leading one research team that spans several institutions.

"We've got to be looking ahead at: What are some of the unregulated byproducts?" she said. "Is it possible that some of those have health effects that we should be concerned about?"

Chasing a bug

Water systems use disinfection to control microbes that make people sick. But some of these tiny organisms are hard to stop entirely — a problem researchers will have to address as they figure out the best ways to clean drinking water.

The four teams will focus on "opportunistic" pathogens, so-called because they tend to infect older people or the immunocompromised. The pathogens each group is looking at also vary, but the four teams will all look for a leading cause of waterborne illness in the United States today: Legionella .

The bacteria and the condition it causes, a lung infection called Legionnaires' disease, are named for the 1976 American Legion conference in Philadelphia where an outbreak led scientists to identify the bug. Legionnaires' sends between 93% and 96% of people with confirmed cases to the hospital, and 6% to 7% of those infected die, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) most recent surveillance report .

Legionella has to be inhaled from water droplets to cause an infection. That means that showers and hot tubs can be points of potential exposure.

It's also been on the rise in the United States for the last 20 years, according to the CDC. Public health authorities haven't changed their surveillance methods for Legionnaires' during that period, Hozalski and the other researchers agreed, indicating that we're not getting better at catching the cases — some other factor is causing people to fall ill more often.

While outbreaks are relatively rare, health officials in Minnesota have noticed an increase.

"Historically, there would be maybe one outbreak every few years. And then, in the past few years, it's been about one per year," said Karla Peterson, supervisor for the community public water supply unit at the Minnesota Department of Health.

Jade Mitchell, an environmental engineer at Michigan State University and a study leader, said an aging U.S. population may mean there are simply more people who can be affected by Legionella. It may also be a problem in communities that have lost residents, leaving behind oversized pipes where water sits for longer, because fewer people are using it.

"We know that water age affects Legionella concentrations," Mitchell said, because as water sits in a pipe, the extra disinfectants that utilities put in will wane, giving Legionella an opportunity to flourish.

Getting the mix just right

Just like some conditions make it more likely for bacteria to spring up, others make it more likely that disinfectants will create new, harmful chemicals in the water system.

Take a cup of water out of the Mississippi River, a drinking water source for many communities, and you'll see a reddish tinge, said Shea, the water system manager in St. Paul. That's a sign of organic matter, or the dissolved remains of leaves and other plants that end up in the river.

But adding disinfectants to water rich in organic matter is a recipe to create potentially harmful byproducts.

Both Minneapolis and St. Paul use the Mississippi as a water source. If the utilities for the Twin Cities added only chlorine to that water, they would risk breaking EPA limits on the small group of byproducts that are already regulated, Hozalski said.

Instead, they use a chemical called chloramine — but that doesn't mean there aren't any byproducts left over. Adding chloramine to the river water can instead create the chemical NDMA, (short for N-Nitrosodimethylamine) an unregulated byproduct which has been linked with liver problems and some cancers after studies in animals .

NDMA is also found in many other places, like in beer and some cured meats.

But water systems like St. Paul are still working on ways to cut down on the chemical, even if it's not yet required by EPA. It can often take the agency decades to begin regulating dangerous substances, such as PFAS.

Shea said the system tested a new disinfection method with Hozalski that will use ozone in addition to other chemicals — a key feature that will be installed with ongoing upgrades to the system's water treatment plant in Maplewood.

The utility had already added new filters to remove some of the organic matter that can later be an ingredient for dangerous byproducts. It also stopped using a nitrogen-based additive in the treatment process that had the potential to turn into NDMA, Shea said.

The addition of ozone will "give us more tools to kind of attack those organic materials before we add chlorine," Shea said.

This is the kind of complex chemistry and fine-tuning that the four research teams may end up recommending to other utilities. But the fixes will depend heavily on the region and the source of their water.

Ultimately, Evans said she hoped that the continuing science would encourage better water regulations across the board — so the water that enters a treatment plant is cleaner to begin with.

"If we can get regulations in place to [better] protect source waters … it won't even be a consideration. The water quality will be better," she said.

This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk , an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri in partnership with Report for America , funded by the Walton Family Foundation. Sign up to republish stories like this one for free .

Chloe Johnson covers climate and other environmental issues for the Star Tribune and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a consortium of 10 news organizations. She is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.

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There are many options for what to drink , but water is the best choice for most people who have access to safe drinking water. It is calorie-free and as easy to find as the nearest tap.

Water helps to restore fluids lost through metabolism, breathing, sweating, and the removal of waste. It helps to keep you from overheating, lubricates the joints and tissues, maintains healthy skin, and is necessary for proper digestion. It’s the perfect zero-calorie beverage for quenching thirst and rehydrating your body.

How Much Water Do I Need?

Water is an essential nutrient at every age, so optimal hydration is a key component for good health. Water accounts for about 60% of an adult’s body weight. We drink fluids when we feel thirst, the major signal alerting us when our body runs low on water. We also customarily drink beverages with meals to help with digestion. But sometimes we drink not based on these factors but on how much we think we should be drinking. One of the most familiar sayings is to aim for “8 glasses a day,” but this may not be appropriate for every person.

General recommendations

• The National Academy of Medicine suggests an adequate intake of daily fluids of about 13 cups and 9 cups for healthy men and women, respectively, with 1 cup equaling 8 ounces. [1] Higher amounts may be needed for those who are physically active or exposed to very warm climates. Lower amounts may be needed for those with smaller body sizes. It’s important to note that this amount is not a daily target, but a general guide. In the average person, drinking less will not necessarily compromise one’s health as each person’s exact fluid needs vary, even day-to-day.
• Fever, exercise, exposure to extreme temperature climates (very hot or cold), and excessive loss of body fluids (such as with vomiting or diarrhea) will increase fluid needs.
• The amount and color of urine can provide a rough estimate of adequate hydration. Generally the color of urine darkens the more concentrated it is (meaning that it contains less water). However, foods, medications, and vitamin supplements can also change urine color. [1] Smaller volumes of urine may indicate dehydration, especially if also darker in color.
• Alcohol can suppress anti-diuretic hormone, a fluid-regulating hormone that signals the kidneys to reduce urination and reabsorb water back into the body. Without it, the body flushes out water more easily. Enjoying more than a couple of drinks within a short time can increase the risk of dehydration, especially if taken on an empty stomach. To prevent this, take alcohol with food and sips of water.
• Although caffeine has long been thought to have a diuretic effect, potentially leading to dehydration, research does not fully support this. The data suggest that more than 180 mg of caffeine daily (about two cups of brewed coffee) may increase urination in the short-term in some people, but will not necessarily lead to dehydration. Therefore, caffeinated beverages including coffee and tea can contribute to total daily water intake. [1]

Keep in mind that about 20% of our total water intake comes not from beverages but from water-rich foods like lettuce, leafy greens, cucumbers, bell peppers, summer squash, celery, berries, and melons.

Aside from including water-rich foods, the following chart is a guide for daily water intake based on age group from the National Academy of Medicine:

Preventing Dehydration: Is Thirst Enough?

As we age, however, the body’s regulation of fluid intake and thirst decline. Research has shown that both of these factors are impaired in the elderly. A Cochrane review found that commonly used indicators of dehydration in older adults (e.g., urine color and volume, feeling thirsty) are not effective and should not be solely used. [3] Certain conditions that impair mental ability and cognition, such as a stroke or dementia, can also impair thirst. People may also voluntarily limit drinking due to incontinence or difficulty getting to a bathroom. In addition to these situations, research has found that athletes, people who are ill, and infants may not have an adequate sense of thirst to replete their fluid needs. [2] Even mild dehydration may produce negative symptoms, so people who cannot rely on thirst or other usual measures may wish to use other strategies. For example, aim to fill a 20-ounce water bottle four times daily and sip throughout the day, or drink a large glass of water with each meal and snack.

Symptoms of dehydration that may occur with as little as a 2% water deficit:

• Confusion or short-term memory loss
• Mood changes like increased irritability or depression

Dehydration can increase the risk of certain medical conditions:

• Urinary tract infections
• Kidney stones
• Constipation  

Like most trends of the moment, alkaline water has become popular through celebrity backing with claims ranging from weight loss to curing cancer. The theory behind alkaline water is the same as that touting the benefits of eating alkaline foods, which purportedly counterbalances the health detriments caused by eating acid-producing foods like meat, sugar, and some grains.

From a scale of 0-14, a higher pH number is alkaline; a lower pH is acidic. The body tightly regulates blood pH levels to about 7.4 because veering away from this number to either extreme can cause negative side effects and even be life-threatening. However, diet alone cannot cause these extremes; they most commonly occur with conditions like uncontrolled diabetes, kidney disease, chronic lung disease, or alcohol abuse.

Alkaline water has a higher pH of about 8-9 than tap water of about 7, due to a higher mineral or salt content. Some water sources can be naturally alkaline if the water picks up minerals as it passes over rocks. However, most commercial brands of alkaline water have been manufactured using an ionizer that reportedly separates out the alkaline components and filters out the acid components, raising the pH. Some people add an alkaline substance like baking soda to regular water.

Scientific evidence is not conclusive on the acid-alkaline theory, also called the acid-ash theory, stating that eating a high amount of certain foods can slightly lower the pH of blood especially in the absence of eating foods supporting a higher alkaline blood pH like fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Controlled clinical trials have not shown that diet alone can significantly change the blood pH of healthy people. Moreover, a direct connection of blood pH in the low-normal range and chronic disease in humans has not been established.

BOTTOM LINE: If the idea of alkaline water encourages you to drink more, then go for it! But it’s likely that drinking plain regular water will provide similar health benefits from simply being well-hydrated—improved energy, mood, and digestive health

Is It Possible To Drink Too Much Water?

There is no Tolerable Upper Intake Level for water because the body can usually excrete extra water through urine or sweat. However, a condition called water toxicity is possible in rare cases, in which a large amount of fluids is taken in a short amount of time, which is faster than the kidney’s ability to excrete it. This leads to a dangerous condition called hyponatremia in which blood levels of sodium fall too low as too much water is taken. The excess total body water dilutes blood sodium levels, which can cause symptoms like confusion, nausea, seizures, and muscle spasms. Hyponatremia is usually only seen in ill people whose kidneys are not functioning properly or under conditions of extreme heat stress or prolonged strenuous exercise where the body cannot excrete the extra water. Very physically active people such as triathletes and marathon runners are at risk for this condition as they tend to drink large amounts of water, while simultaneously losing sodium through their sweat. Women and children are also more susceptible to hyponatremia because of their smaller body size.

Fun Flavors For Water  

Infused water

Instead of purchasing expensive flavored waters in the grocery store, you can easily make your own at home. Try adding any of the following to a cold glass or pitcher of water:

• Sliced citrus fruits or zest (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit)
• Crushed fresh mint
• Peeled, sliced fresh ginger or sliced cucumber
• Crushed berries

Sparkling water with a splash of juice

Sparkling juices may have as many calories as sugary soda. Instead, make your own sparkling juice at home with 12 ounces of sparkling water and just an ounce or two of juice. For additional flavor, add sliced citrus or fresh herbs like mint.

TIP: To reduce waste, reconsider relying on single-use plastic water bottles and purchase a colorful 20-32 ounce refillable water thermos that is easy to wash and tote with you during the day. 

Are seltzers and other fizzy waters safe and healthy to drink?

BOTTOM LINE: Carbonated waters, if unsweetened, are safe to drink and a good beverage choice. They are not associated with health problems that are linked with sweetened, carbonated beverages like soda.

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is a member of the Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network’s (NOPREN) Drinking Water Working Group. A collaborative network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the NOPREN Drinking Water Working Group focuses on policies and economic issues regarding free and safe drinking water access in various settings by conducting research and evaluation to help identify, develop and implement drinking-water-related policies, programs, and practices. Visit the network’s website to access recent water research and evidence-based resources.
• The Harvard Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity provides tools and resources for making clean, cold, free water more accessible in environments like schools and afterschool programs, as well as tips for making water more tasty and fun for kids.
• The National Academy of Sciences. Dietary References Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate. https://www.nap.edu/read/10925/chapter/6#102 Accessed 8/5/2019.
• Millard-Stafford M, Wendland DM, O’Dea NK, Norman TL. Thirst and hydration status in everyday life. Nutr Rev . 2012 Nov;70 Suppl 2:S147-51.
• Hooper L, Abdelhamid A, Attreed NJ, Campbell WW, Channell AM, et al. Clinical symptoms, signs and tests for identification of impending and current water-loss dehydration in older people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev . 2015 Apr 30;(4):CD009647.

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Drinking water in low-income communities is more likely to be contaminated by 'forever chemicals,' research finds

by Cyrus Moulton, Northeastern University

PFAS, or forever chemicals, are widespread and more likely to be found in public water systems serving low-income communities and communities of color in New Jersey, according to new research from Northeastern University.

"This really comes out of a long tradition of environmental justice research that talks about the overburdened nature for people of color and of low income," says Phil Brown, university distinguished professor of sociology and health sciences and the director of the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute at Northeastern.

The findings were published in Environmental Health Perspectives .

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of 14,000 persistent, toxic chemicals that are used in countless consumer and industrial products —everything from your waterproof hiking gear to the container for your fast-food burger. They are often called "forever chemicals" because they are extremely persistent and can build up in organisms—including humans—over time.

New Jersey was the first state to regulate certain PFAS in drinking water, with statewide sampling beginning in 2019 on all public water systems .

"This was great data because you could see the entire state, all the public drinking water systems, no matter what the size," Brown says.

He notes that the Environmental Protection Agency has historically monitored PFAS in systems that serve 10,000 people or more. The EPA now looks at smaller systems as well, Brown adds.

According to this data, from 2019–2021, PFAS were detected in 63% of New Jersey water systems, collectively serving 84% of the state's population.

Researchers then linked the community water system boundaries to census block groups to analyze the socio demographics of the population served by drinking water where PFAS were detected.

Researchers also used New Jersey's criteria for "overburdened communities" to focus on the environmental justice impacts of the PFAS contamination. An overburdened community in New Jersey is defined as a census block group where: at least 35% of the households are low income; or at least 40% of residents identify as minority or have a state-recognized tribal affiliation; or 40% of households have limited English proficiency.

As a result, researchers found that 92% of the Hispanic population, 94% of the Black population, and 95% of the Asian population were served by water systems where PFAS were detected at least once between 2019 and 2021. This compared to 76% of the non-Hispanic white population.

Moreover, researchers found that nearly three-quarters of community water systems serving census block groups with more than 40% people of color had PFAS detections, and one in four of these water systems had PFAS levels above New Jersey's health-based regulatory limits. By comparison, only one in nine water systems serving block groups with less than 40% people of color had PFAS contamination above the state's limits, researchers found.

Brown says he would like to see the study replicated in other areas to get a broader sense of PFAS contamination. The PFAS Project Lab, part of Northeastern University's Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute, has developed publicly available datasets on PFAS contamination and governance.

"We're always trying to share the resources that we have because we can't do all the research in the world," Brown says. "We also think that this is data that should be shared widely."

But it's not all bad news.

Researchers also found that levels of PFAS detections seemed to be declining over time, and systems that had installed water treatment technologies were less likely to detect any of the chemicals.

Furthermore, the EPA finalized drinking water regulations for six PFAS on April 10, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law set aside $9 billion for tackling PFAS and other contaminants. Last week, two PFAS compounds were also added to the Superfund list of hazardous chemicals, meaning that polluters will be responsible for remediation.

That being said, Brown notes that the biggest challenge is eliminating PFAS "upstream" before they contaminate drinking water.

"It's a combination of consumer pressure on the producers and retailers, the engagement of the military (a major source of PFAS contamination) and of state and federal regulations," Brown says. "All of these together will reduce the amount of PFAS in our society and hence in our bodies."

Journal information: Environmental Health Perspectives

Provided by Northeastern University

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu .

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50 Years of Drinking Water Research

Published December 2, 2020

Harmful algal blooms are a major environmental problem in all 50 states. Some, but not all, types of HABs are overgrowths of toxin-producing algae in fresh or marine waters that can adversely affect human and animal health and local economies. Cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae) are a type of bacteria that exhibit characteristics of algae and can form these HABs. They often develop due to a combination of factors, such as excess nutrients, water temperature, and light availability.

In 2015, EPA began collaborating on the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) project with federal partners, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The goal of the project is to provide federal, state, tribal, and local partners with the capability to detect and quantify algal blooms and related water quality using satellite data. This research collaboration led EPA scientists to develop the CyAN mobile application. The CyAN app, which was officially released to the public for download on Android devices in 2019, allows local and state water quality managers to easily assess satellite derived cyanobacteria biomass concentrations for over 2,000 of the largest lakes and reservoirs across the country. This easily accessible information can empower managers to make faster and better-informed management decisions related to cyanobacterial blooms. The team is currently developing a web-based version of the app, which will be compatible with most devices.

Another water challenge that EPA is addressing is the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water resources. PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in a variety of industries around the globe since the 1940s. There is evidence to suggest that continued exposure to PFAS above certain levels can adversely affect human health.

To address concerns about the impact of PFAS chemicals in drinking water, EPA researchers have been conducting a variety of studies, including the development of standard analytical methods to detect the presence of PFAS in drinking water. These tested and validated methods are important resources to help government and private laboratories accurately and consistently measure PFAS in the environment so that they can make more informed decisions for their communities. In 2018, EPA released Method 537.1, which can be used to detect and quantify 18 PFAS chemicals in drinking water. The original Method 537 was published by EPA in 2009 and then revised in 2018 to include four additional PFAS, including HFPO-DA. In 2020, EPA made editorial updates to the method, and Version 2.0 of 537.1 is now available.  Researchers also helped develop the new validated Method 533, which can be used to accurately test for 11 additional PFAS. EPA and private laboratories can now use EPA methods 533 and 537.1to measure 29 PFAS chemicals in drinking water.

In addition, EPA is evaluating different drinking water treatment technologies that can remove certain PFAS from drinking water sources. This work has been added to the Drinking Water Treatability Database , an EPA resource that helps drinking water utilities, communities, states, and academics identify effective treatment processes for contaminants in drinking water. So far, EPA research has helped populate the database with 35 treatment processes and 123 regulated and unregulated contaminants. In a recent update in summer 2020, EPA added treatment and contaminant information about four new PFAS compounds. This update brings the total number of PFAS compounds in the database to 26, including PFOA and PFOS. Researchers have also added 20 new scientific references to the existing PFAS entries, which increases the depth of scientific knowledge available in the database.

For 50 years, EPA researchers have conducted research critical to protecting America’s drinking water. In the face of new challenges to drinking water resources and systems, EPA research has provided support to federal, state, tribal and local and partners through the development of methods to detect emerging contaminants and the creation of decision support tools like the CyAN app. As new challenges emerge, EPA remains committed to addressing threats to drinking water and public health.

Harmful Algal Blooms and Cyanobacteria Research

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Research

Water Research  

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• Published: 22 March 2021

Sustainable implementation of innovative technologies for water purification

• Bart Van der Bruggen   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3921-7472 1 , 2  

Nature Reviews Chemistry volume  5 ,  pages 217–218 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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One of the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations General Assembly is to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This requires investment in water purification technologies. World Water Day offers an opportunity to discuss whether such investment will help achieve this laudable goal.

Wastewater and seawater have long been considered as potential sources from which to produce freshwater. Several technologies have been developed over the past few decades aimed at their reuse and recycle, but unfortunately the treatment of both sources may have perfidious effects.

Of the approaches presently available, desalination seems to have the greatest potential, given that seawater is a nearly unlimited resource. However, desalination is an energy-intensive process. The state-of-the-art technology, seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), has undergone huge improvements over the past five decades: the specific energy consumption of SWRO was reduced from 20 kWh m −3 in 1970 to only 2.5 kWh m −3 in 2010. It has been estimated that a further 0.69–0.79 kWh m −3 might be saved by a smart process integration with intrinsic heat recovery 1 , but desalination of typical seawater (with an average salt concentration of 35 g l −1 ) requires a minimum of 1.07 kWh m −3 , offering only a little room for improvement. This limit is the foundation of the water–energy nexus and prompts further research on renewable energy sources for desalination, which remain scarce. In a case study, Delgado-Torres and co-workers 2 used tidal and solar energy for desalination at a semi-arid location in Broome, Australia. Similar studies focus on desalination driven by wind energy, photovoltaics or solar thermal energy. Although such approaches to water desalination may be viable to supply clean water in small or spatially confined communities — as was demonstrated in the island of Aruba 3 — they offer very little for the water challenges of large cities such as Beijing, Cairo or Cape Town.

In a cost–benefit analysis, wastewater recycling is more favourable than seawater desalination, because the former does not require the expensive separation of salts from water. This may seem surprising given that reverse osmosis is the key technology in both cases. The difference is that wastewater recycling would operate at much lower pressure. Such recycling has been practised for more than half a century in Windhoek, Namibia, and is accepted practice in water-scarce places such as Singapore 4 . Southern California is presently implementing a large-scale scheme to use recycled water as a potable source 5 and other countries and locations will surely follow. This trend pushes researchers to develop fouling-resistant, high-flux membranes for reverse osmosis and related membrane processes such as nano- or ultrafiltration. However, new challenges also arise. The production of (polymer) membranes for purification typically requires the use of polar aprotic solvents such as N,N -dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N -dimethylacetamide (DMA), 1,4-dioxane and tetrahydrofuran (THF). These solvents have a considerable environmental impact and significant effort is invested in their replacement with ‘greener’ solvents such as organic carbonates 6 or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) 7 . Another limitation for present membrane technologies lies in the availability, processing and scale-up of materials for their manufacture. For example, two 2006 reports describe how incorporating carbon nanotubes into membranes affords permeabilities one to two orders of magnitude larger than those of conventional membranes. However, scaling up the synthesis of such membranes was not expected to be easy 8 — and, indeed, it has, so far, not happened. Since these reports emerged, there have been numerous studies on mixed-matrix membranes combining other nanostructures with polymeric matrices but, thus far, none has yet been applied on a large scale. Typically, good results are obtained in the laboratory, but the cost of producing the required nanostructures or issues associated with toxicity or leaching of nanoparticles from membranes have proven prohibitive for industrial use. Researchers need to place greater focus on the development of realistic membranes rather than just better membranes.

Closing the water cycle by either desalination or wastewater purification promises to provide virtually unlimited volumes of freshwater: in principle, it would enable an increase in water consumption by a factor equal to the inverse of the recycled fraction. However, we must be cognizant of unintended consequences. Water availability is one of the limiting factors for population growth and greater availability would certainly stimulate population growth. History has shown that humankind naturally makes use of available resources, sometimes with dramatic consequences, as exemplified by the agricultural and industrial revolutions 9 . A historical, sociological and demographic analysis by Harari shows that if water recycling is practised on a large scale, water consumption per capita may remain the same but our population will grow by the inverse of the recycled fraction 9 . This would then automatically lead to new challenges. A disenchanting example is the present SARS-CoV-2 virus: the scale of the outbreak would have been much more contained in a modest, local society without overpopulation. Water technologies may catalyse global growth more than any other technology because water is one of very few commodities that humankind cannot do without. This is of course not the case for industrialized countries, where water is not a limiting factor, but in most parts of the world it is. Harari was criticized for being unfamiliar with technologies, and, while this may be a fair criticism, warnings from other disciplines should not be summarily dismissed by technology developers.

In conclusion, the scope of water technologies may need to be reconsidered. There is no need for a major technological breakthrough in water recycling or desalination. What is really needed is for present technologies to be available to children growing up without access to clean water sources, as stated in the United Nations sustainable development goals . This will require dedicated, embedded actions towards maintaining the demographic status quo while respecting the basic human rights of all. The goals then are a useful tool to monitor progress but must be considered in context because the indicators that are used can result in tunnel vision 10 . Furthermore, lifestyle choices in terms of water — reduce, reuse and recycle — need to be thoroughly considered and be more than just a hollow slogan.

Park, K., Kim, J. B., Yang, D. R. & Hong, S. K. Towards a low-energy seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant: a review and theoretical analysis for future directions. J. Membr. Sci. 595 , 117607 (2020).

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Brendel, L. P. M., Shah, V. M., Groll, E. A. & Braun, J. E. A methodology for analyzing renewable energy opportunities for desalination and its application to Aruba. Desalination 493 , 114613 (2020).

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Evenepoel, N., Wen, S., Tsehaye, M. T. & Van der Bruggen, B. Potential of DMSO as greener solvent for PES ultra- and nanofiltration membrane preparation. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 135 , 46494 (2018).

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Harari, Y. N. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (Harper Collins, 2015).

Weststrate, J., Dijkstra, G., Eshuis, J., Gianoli, A. & Rusca, M. The sustainable development goal on water and sanitation: learning from the millennium development goals. Soc. Indic. Res. 143 , 795–810 (2019).

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New Zealand's drinking water safe from harmful ‘forever chemicals’

24 April 2024

Sustainable impact , Environment , Faculty of Engineering , Faculty of Science

New research shows low levels of PFAS in New Zealand’s drinking water – but caution is urged.

New Zealand's drinking water is largely free from elevated levels of dangerous “forever chemicals”, according to new research from the University of Auckland.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), or “forever chemicals”, are known for their persistence and potential health risks, including developmental effects, immune system disruption and certain types of cancer.

The New Zealand study, led by Associate Professor Lokesh Padhye from the Faculty of Engineering and Associate Professor Melanie Kah, Dr Erin Leitao, Professor David Barker and PhD candidate Shailja Data from the Faculty of Science, analysed samples from twenty locations across the country, including various suburbs in Auckland.

They found that the PFAS levels detected were below the most stringent drinking water regulations in the world, including the levels proposed recently by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

The results from the study are “overwhelmingly positive news,” says Padhye.

Contaminated drinking water is one of the main routes for human exposure to PFAS and is a major public health concern for industrialised countries.

A study by the US EPA indicated widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water sources around the US, with many exceeding safe drinking limits.

The recent mapped data suggest Australia, China, Europe, and North America are PFAS hotspots relative to the rest of the world.

“Our findings were a pleasant surprise as the samples indicate that PFAS levels in New Zealand's drinking water are relatively low. It's a significant outcome for the community well-being of Aotearoa, especially in light of the recent global studies,” says Shailja Data, who coordinated the nationwide sampling for the study.

PFAS contamination can originate from many different sources, including industrial sites, firefighting foams, landfills, wastewater treatment plants, agricultural practices, consumer products, atmospheric deposition and food packaging. Industries using or manufacturing PFAS can release them into the environment through air, water or improper disposal.

While New Zealand lacks PFAS manufacturing sites, industries like metal plating may still contribute to contamination, says Padhye. Historical use of firefighting foams and improper waste disposal also pose ongoing risks. Due to the lack of national regulations for the manufacturing and import of consumer products, many ‘proper’ waste disposal practices can also contribute to PFAS load to the environment due to the widespread presence of PFAS in consumer products .

The researchers, who are investigating the burden of PFAS on New Zealand's environment, tested the tap water, borewell water and lake water for 30 PFAS, including regulated ones and found most PFAS below one part per trillion level.

Despite the positive findings, the research underscores the need for continued vigilance and proactive measures to safeguard the quality of New Zealand’s drinking water, they say, especially considering thousands of PFAS exist in the environment. The samples, although representative, do not capture fluctuations or long-term trends in contamination levels.

“Regular water monitoring of emerging contaminants such as PFAS is crucial in New Zealand to address water quality issues and ensure public safety. It helps identify contamination sources, assess the effectiveness of water management practices, and protect the environment and public health,” says Padhye.

Other recommendations from the research include enhancing waste management practices, regular monitoring and sharing results to quell disinformation about water quality, and conducting public awareness campaigns about water issues. Collaboration among stakeholders is also essential to address global challenges associated with emerging contaminants in water, according to the research team.

The study sampled water from the following locations: Auckland CBD, Beachlands, Beach Haven, Botany, Christchurch, Dunedin, Flat Bush, Hamilton, Mairangi Bay, Mount Maunganui, Mount Roskill, Pukekohe, Remuera, Rotorua, St Heliers, Taupō, Te Atatū Peninsula, Titirangi, Queenstown (including a lake sample) and Waiheke.

New methodology to measure microplastics in EU’s drinking water

A JRC-developed methodology will support the Drinking Water Directive in the important domain of monitoring microplastics in tap water across the EU.

Every day, our body needs about one and a half litres of water to function properly.

But what if the water we drink contains very small particles of plastics, so-called ‘microplastics’?

While it is now generally accepted that microplastics may be present in our drinking water, links to human health effects remain uncertain – due in large part to the poor understanding we have of their presence and distribution in our water supplies. Fortunately, in cases such as these, European drinking water legislation provides us with legal tools to introduce Union wide measuring and monitoring of new, emerging pollutants.

Monitoring microplastics’ presence in our drinking water are crucial steps forward for protecting human health and our environment.

However, measuring microplastics remains challenging because they vary vastly in size, shape, composition and chemical identity, complicating efforts to assess their presence accurately.

Harmonised approach to measuring microplastics 

To better harmonise the measurement process, the JRC has designed a methodology which represents a uniform approach to sampling, analysis and data reporting.

This will contribute to the generation of more consistent and inter-comparable data, which is a first and important step towards the eventual establishment of exposure levels in European drinking water.

To define the methodology, JRC scientists first reviewed the scientific knowledge base on the nature, distribution and quantities of microplastics. The findings are published in the report ’Analytical methods to measure microplastics in drinking water ’.

It showed that the levels of microplastics reported in drinking water are generally lower than a few tens of particles per litre, with more recent studies undertaken in Europe showing lower, or much lower levels (0.0000-0.6 particles per litre).

Microplastics in drinking water in Europe and beyond

Such information proved to be a key indicator for the analytical methods to be used and the need to sample large water volumes (>50 litres).

The most frequently found polymers in drinking water appeared to be polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyester other than PET, and polypropylene. 

The “how to” in the JRC methodology

The JRC methodology initially defines which materials have to be addressed, the relevant size ranges, shapes and the unit of measurement.

For the sampling, at least 1000 litres are required to quantify microplastics.

Samples are collected using filters of different micron sizes (100 and 20 micron filters), to collect the solids in two size ranges.

These samples are then analysed via one of two possible methods – either by Infrared microscopy or Raman microscopy. These techniques allow the identification of the polymer type, its size and whether it is a particle or a fibre – all this information may in the future be relevant to understanding the nature and extent of our exposure to microplastics.

Essential data from the analysis are recorded for comprehensive reporting.

Policy context

The European Commission is driving the development of legislation needed to tackle the potential threat of microplastics to people’s health and the environment.

Among the initiatives, the recast Drinking Water Directive , the EU’s main law on drinking water, covers both the access to and the quality of water intended for human consumption to protect human health.

Under the recast Drinking Water Directive, the Commission is empowered to establish a methodology to measure microplastics in drinking water. The methodology developed by the JRC is embedded in the Commission Delegated Decision adopted on 11 March 2024.      

The Commission has established a first watch list addressing substances and compounds of concern for water intended for human consumption. The watch list indicates a guidance value for each substance and compound and where necessary a possible method of analysis.

The Commission has established the methodology with a view to include microplastics on this watch list. Member States will then have to put in place monitoring requirements, using the JRC methodology set out in the Commission Delegated Decision.

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Rhody Today

Uri water quality program launching initiative to study pfas in water systems of two r.i. local communities.

Program aims to evaluate the prevalence, sources and pathways of ‘forever chemicals’

KINGSTON, R.I. – April 25, 2024 – The State of Rhode Island mandated testing of public drinking water systems for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – better known as PFAS – starting last year. Now, the University of Rhode Island’s Water Quality Program is launching an initiative that will research the prevalence of PFAS in other sources, including ground and surface water.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been used for decades in consumer products such as coating on non-stick cookware, clothing and carpets to prevent stains, and in firefighting foam. Called “forever chemicals,” the substances degrade slowly in the environment. Human exposure is widespread and may lead to such health impacts as cancer and reproductive issues. 

As part of a nationwide effort to better understand these substances, the URI Water Quality Program will evaluate the prevalence of PFAS and its sources and pathways in two small or disadvantaged Rhode Island communities at the sub-watershed level. Funded by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Rhode Island Department of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, the project will explore best practices for treatment of PFAS and an outreach and engagement program for residents in the two pilot communities. The plan will not only be applicable in Rhode Island, but nationwide, said Lisa Philo, co-director of URI’s Rhode Island Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO). 

“The range of expertise we have in the Water Quality Program makes us particularly well-suited to investigate this problem through a variety of lenses,” said Philo. “Our goal is to examine the prevalence and possible sources of PFAS in two pilot communities and to use that information to determine how best to tackle the problem and to engage the public so they understand their actual risks. We’ve been working on drinking water, wastewater, and watershed issues for decades, and that experience will be critical as we tackle these emerging contaminants of concern.”

Including NEMO, the initiative brings together four programs in URI’s Water Quality Program, which is part of the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences and the Cooperative Extension. The programs have a long history of working together.

While NEMO has a track record of working with local officials, its sister programs bring their own expertise in water quality monitoring, research and outreach. Watershed Watch deploys an army of volunteers each summer to monitor the state’s ponds, lakes, rivers, streams and coastal waters. The Home*A*Syst program trains homeowners with private wells, and the Onsite Wastewater Resource Center provides research and training on private septic systems. The project will also collaborate with URI’s Environmental Data Center, a geospatial data analysis research lab.

“At its root, one of the strengths that this project plays to is the fact that our Water Quality Program has always relied upon URI scientific research to fuel decisions that we make and the information that we translate and disseminate for the public and decision-makers,” said Philo. “We have a longstanding history of collaboration with various departments at URI and this project will be no different.”

In the fall, URI researchers will identify the two communities – such as a school district, senior housing complex or mobile home park – with differing levels of PFAS contamination in the public water system that serves them. 

The selection process will also take into account the size and makeup of the communities’ populations. “For this project, the EPA strongly favors that the funds be applied in small communities – usually fewer than 5,000 people – that include marginalized or disadvantaged populations,” she said. 

In each community, URI researchers will test multiple areas – private wells, small public water systems, surface waters, and onsite wastewater – to evaluate the prevalence and sources of contaminants and understand the pathways contaminants travel in surface and groundwater. While the state monitors public drinking water systems, the URI project will also test private drinking water sources in the sub-watershed to understand potential sources of the contaminants in the home.

“If we’re dealing with a school district that’s been identified as having actionable levels of PFAS, what do the houses, commercial buildings, or industry around the school look like? Also, our goal will be to identify 40 residences that are willing to let us sample their private well water and wastewater to see what we find,” Philo said.

The end goal of the project is to determine the best drinking water treatment options for PFAS in small systems and private wells that are above EPA limits in the two communities – and develop an education and outreach program that informs the communities about PFAS effects on human health and provides best practices in supporting homeowners making informed decisions to protect the health of their families.  

“The news about PFAS sounds very alarming, but the goal is not to alarm people,” she said. “It is to make them aware of the issue and empower them with choices if they find out their water system contains PFAS.”

The fluoride fight: Data shows more US cities, towns remove fluoride from drinking water

Fluoride, the tooth health-boosting mineral that conjures images of dentists' offices for many, has been a standard additive to municipal water sources since the 1940s.

Naturally occurring in water, soil, plants, rocks and even the air, fluoride was discovered as a useful tool for preventing cavities and tooth decay by the late 1930s. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city to fluoridate its community water, adjusting existing levels in the supply to the therapeutic 1.0 parts-per-million (ppm).

Since then, the levels have been adjusted to a maximum of 0.7 ppm or 0.7  milligrams  of fluoride per liter of water which is considered optimal for preventing tooth decay.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 72.7% of the U.S. population on a community water source received fluoridated water as of 2020. This percentage has remained relatively consistent since 2008, according to CDC data, fluctuating between 72.4% at the lowest and 74.6% at the highest.

Last week, KFF Health reported that as the fluoride bans proliferate, the issue has divided communities.

While the CDC maintains that fluoridated water is both safe and cost-effective, questions as to potential hazards introduced by water fluoridation have existed as long as the practice has been popular.

Fluoride divide: As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US

Communities concerned about fluoride risks

The potential for fluoride toxicity does technically exist, for example, but would require consuming an amount of fluoridated water that would kill a human via water intoxication before the amount of fluoride could become harmful or deadly, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Other arguments have included a theorized connection between fluoridated water and increased cancer risk, a topic studied extensively. According to the National Cancer Institute , the most recent population-based studies found no evidence of an association between fluoride in drinking water and an increased risk of bone cancer, though past results have been mixed.

Other topics have been explored as science has evolved, including the impact of fluoride consumption on pregnancy, arthritis, IQ, and kidney disease. Again, results have been mixed and scientists say more research needs to be done to come to any strong conclusions.

Is fluoridated water still needed in the modern age?

Some have begun to speculate about the need for fluoridated water with so many dental hygiene products now available in stores. Detractors argue that there is no need to add more of the compound on top of what naturally occurs in water and that distributing it via drinking water is an imprecise and uncontrolled way of dosing residents.

The CDC says, however, that while hygiene products can help reduce tooth decay, the greatest protection comes when they are used in tandem with fluoridated water. Still, groups across the U.S. have taken up the cause of getting fluoride removed or banned from community water, saying the consumption of the mineral should be an individual choice.

Currently, a federal case in the California courts could change the practice, forcing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate or ban the use of fluoride in drinking water nationwide.

U.S. communities implement bans on fluoridated water

The Flouride Action Network, an anti-fluoride group, has tracked the ongoing battle in U.S. communities. As of 2023, the network says, more than 240 communities in the world have rejected the use of fluoridated water since 2010, more than 170 of which are in the U.S.

Some of these communities, like Weston, Georgia, have as few as 80 affected residents. Others, however, like Portland, Oregon have roughly 900,000.

According to the Flouride Action Network data, the overall number of U.S. residents not receiving fluoridated water after a community rejection, rule or ban went into place has steadily increased since 2010, with large gains between 2010 and 2014, followed by a less dramatic but still upward trend.

4.2 million Americans lived in communities without fluoridated water last year

In January 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to reduce the recommended fluoride level in drinking water, saying the U.S. has seen increased incidences of dental fluorosis in children, a tooth condition that can occur when exposed to too much fluoride, prompting some existing detractors to double down on their beliefs about fluoridated water.

Several official agencies acknowledged the increased consumption of fluoride through other means beyond water at this time, citing this fact as another reason for reducing the levels in drinking water.

In 2015, federal recommendations were simplified to make 0.7 pm the standard level at which fluoride should be present in community water.

According to the Flouride Action Network data, more than 4.2 million Americans lived in a community without fluoridated water in 2023, up from just 219,900 in 2010.

Not all states agree on fluoride

Some areas of the U.S. have been more aggressive than others in riding its community waters of added fluoride. The Fluoride Action Network data reported 16 states without any bans or removals of fluoridated water on record.

The rest of the states saw varying levels of rejection, with some like Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Louisana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming only reporting one or two counties in which fluoride had been removed from water.

Other states, however, like Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Tenessee, Missouri, and Wisconsin had well over five counties reporting such bans or removals. Pennsylvania had the most with 17 counties containing 647,232 residents, followed by Tennessee with 15 counties and Missouri with 10.

Others, like Oregon, New Mexico and Kansas had higher overall populations affected by a lack of fluoride in drinking water despite few counties participating; Oregon, for example, had 914,120 people represented by only two counties.

The fluoride fight continues

As Americans wait out the conclusion of the California case, it appears fluoride will remain a community issue.

The decision to omit added fluoride from community water is often made at local government assemblies and via a vote among sometimes hyperlocal government lines, meaning one community may make a decision that the bordering one does not.

While official health agencies have reaffirmed the assertion that fluoride continues to be safe, effective and even necessary, the movement's growth indicates what was once considered a fringe opinion has become more mainstream.

Less alcohol, or none at all, is one path to better health

It’s wine time. Beer Thirty. Happy hour. Five o’clock somewhere.

Maybe it’s also time to rethink drinking ?

Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods have thrown cold water on that.

“Drinking less is a great way to be healthier,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.