Federal study finds high levels of arsenic in well water

Worried about lead? Here’s a bigger danger in your tap water

Forget Arsenic and Old Lace! It’s more like arsenic and your morning coffee.

Because a just-released report from the U.S. Geological Survey and the CDC has discovered what it’s calling a “widespread” problem of dangerous levels of arsenic flowing from the faucets of millions of Americans.

And that’s not all.

The EPA is allowing this potent poison — one that is known to be hazardous at very low levels — in municipal water supplies in amounts said to be in violation of its own rules about how much of a carcinogen we should be exposed to.

The EPA, it seems, has turned a blind eye toward this danger in our drinking water. So, to keep yourself and your family safe, you’re going to have to take matters into your own hands.

Fortunately, that’s very doable!

Assurances that don’t hold water
You might remember the big to-do six years ago, when a famous TV doctor announced that he had found dangerous levels of arsenic in apple juice meant for babies.

He was slammed from all sides — the FDA, EPA, the media, and manufacturers such as Nestlé — and accused of fear-mongering.

But guess what? He was right! And his so-called “irresponsible” report got FDA officials off their backsides… at least for a moment, anyway.

Two years after his story aired, the agency issued an “action level” for apple juice — one matching the EPA’s “safe” water number (more on that in a minute).

Apple juice, however, is just a drop in the arsenic bucket compared to our drinking water.

And the source of your water — be it your own private well or a municipal water supply — can make a world of difference.

If you have a well, which millions of Americans do, you’re on your own — 100 percent. No one is going to test your water for you unless you hire a company to do so. And even if that test shows levels of arsenic that are off the charts, you’re also on your own to fix it.

What that new report turned up is that around two million Americans with their own wells are drinking water containing high levels of arsenic.

But here’s the thing: What’s considered “high” is anything above the EPA’s “safe” drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion (ppb), a number said to be way above what is actually considered “safe,” even by the EPA’s own standards for carcinogens.

And, in fact, that number has been a moving target pretty much this entire millennium.

Prior to 2001, it was a whopping 50 ppb! Then, the agency proposed dropping it to 5 or even 3 ppb… finally settling for the present level of 10 ppb.

That magic “10,” however, wasn’t just about safety. It was set to reduce the danger while “minimizing cost.”

That’s right, this “class A” carcinogen is permitted in public water at a level that the EPA knows full well will cause a certain number of cancers every year. It’s what’s known as a “risk-management” decision — in other words, it’s a question of how much money will municipalities save by not having to remove more arsenic from our drinking water.

Despite the EPA’s assurance that arsenic is somehow safe at that level, exposures at half that amount have been shown to harm a child’s developing brain.

And it’s not just kids who are in danger. Low levels in water are linked to a higher risk of stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, and, of course, cancer.

One expert has even joked that “arsenic makes lead look like a vitamin.”

Obviously, the EPA’s “safety standard” doesn’t hold water. So, you need to find out exactly how much arsenic is coming out of your tap.

If you source water from your own well, you’ll have to hire a company to come in, take samples, and give you a report. If you have public water, call your municipal water authority and ask for a copy of its (required!) tests, which check for a variety of contaminates.

If it turns out your levels are high, you’ve got to take measures to remove the arsenic immediately — but simply boiling water won’t remove it. In fact, that can actually concentrate arsenic levels!

The best way to get the arsenic out of your water is through a reverse osmosis system (which will also remove any fluoride). That can run from a few hundred dollars for one tap to several thousand for your whole home.

That might sound expensive. But it’s a lot cheaper than the cost of treating cancer.

“2 million Americans may have arsenic in well water” Alan Mozes, October 18, 2017, WebMD, webmd.com