Clean drinking water is something to worry about in Calcutta, not Chicago… right?
Unfortunately, it turns out that locales big and small all over the U.S. are serving up contaminated water to their citizens. It’s almost too unbelievable to imagine that in this day and age, we have to worry about the safety of what’s coming out of our kitchen faucets.
In past editions of eAlert, I’ve told you many reasons why ignoring what may be in your water is so dangerous. But with some new findings out of the Windy City, it’s obvious that this is a much bigger problem than any of us might have realized.
So, wherever you live, you can no longer afford to leave the safety of your tap water to chance – because everyone’s health is put at risk by lead exposure.
It’s not just kids!
But the good news is that by taking a few simple steps, you can make sure that it’s safe for you and your family to guzzle, cook with, and splash in to your heart’s content.
Water, water everywhere…
After all of the publicity over what was going on in Flint, Michigan, where residents suddenly found out they were drinking water contaminated with high amounts of lead, Chicago officials started giving out free testing kits.
But that turned out to open a whole new lead-lined can of worms, as thousands of Chicago residents soon realized that they were in the same boat as the people in Flint.
Lead amounts in nearly 70 percent of those samples surpassed what the EPA allows in bottled water (which is five parts per billion).
The problem in Chicago, of course, is that the lead pipes once required by the city’s plumbing codes have aged and corroded, beginning to contaminate the water supply. And construction to fix some of the main water lines only ended up making the problem worse — by “shaking loose” even more lead from those old pipes.
Although Chicago is spending millions on those upgrades, it’s – unbelievably — keeping its hands off of the lead-leaching pipes it mandated so long ago!
And get this: If homeowners want those outdated and dangerous lead service lines replaced, it’s on their nickel. How’s that for a sucker punch to the wallet?
But Chicago and Flint are far from the only U.S. cities with a problem of lead in the water.
Other places whose residents are being provided drinking water that’s way over the EPA’s absurd safety number include my hometown of Baltimore, along with Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and (get ready for this) 5,000 others.
That’s shocking enough on its own, but what makes it so incomprehensible is that both the EPA and CDC clearly state that there is no safe level of lead exposure, no matter how old (or young) you are.
In any amount and from any source, lead is devastating to a child’s development. And as we told you last month, it can also be deadly for us grown-ups — especially seniors.
A long-running study involving 14,000 adults, published last month in The Lancet, found that people are actually dying due to heart damage caused by exposure to this heavy metal. The researchers from five big facilities, including UC Berkeley and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, reported that lead can damage heart cells, leading to the development of plaques that can trigger a heart attack, damage your kidneys, and cause high blood pressure.
And if you think that federal regulators have rules in place to protect us, you’re right. They do! It’s called the Safe Water Drinking Act, and it was signed into law decades ago.
The problem is that it’s enforced about as often as it snows in the Sahara.
Last year, the Natural Resources Defense Council counted up 80,000 violations of the act that impacted 70 million people. And those violations weren’t just about lead… but arsenic, copper, coliform bacteria, and a wide variety of chemical solvents and other industrial wastes.
That’s why the first thing you need to do is get your tap water tested. You can do this by using a home DIY kit or contacting a professional.
You can also contact your local water authority for its yearly report, but remember that what’s coming from your faucet can be contaminated by pipes and fittings in your home. And if your water comes from a well, the only one who will be doing any testing (and cleanup) will be you.
Next, if necessary, filter your drinking water with a unit that’s certified under NSA/ANSI for lead-removal standards (remember, no amount of lead is safe). Most filters at that level will also remove other contaminants.
And never use hot tap water for cooking, as it can contain much higher levels of lead. Even where cold water is concerned, run the faucet for a few minutes first thing in the morning before cooking or drinking.
“Brain-damaging lead found in tap water in hundreds of homes tested across Chicago, results show” Michael Hawthorne, Cecilia Reyes, April 12, 2018, Chicago Tribune, chicagotribune.com
