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Study reveals US hotspots for poor water quality and “water injustice”
By Douglas Main
New research has identified hotspots in the US with concerning levels of water quality and poor access to clean drinking water, revealing that Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Washington had the most water quality violations across the board.
The paper, published Tuesday in the journal Risk Analysis, also developed county-level scores across most of the country for unequal access to safe and clean drinking water, finding that eight of the 10 counties with the worst “water injustice” scores were in Mississippi, with the other two in Texas and South Dakota. Water injustice tends to disproportionately impact low-income households and people of color.
The top 10 counties with the most water violations were located in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
“You can see some pretty stark differences between states,” said study lead author Alex Segrè Cohen, a social scientist at the University of Oregon. In Arizona, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania, “almost every county has high water violation scores,” she said.
The study also noted that 2 million people in the US lack access to running water or indoor plumbing in their homes. Many of these communities are found on the US-Mexico border, or on tribal land. Another 30 million live “where water systems operate unsafely.”
The findings add to other recent work on water quality in the US, including a trove of data made public in February by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in their tap water database, which shows widespread pollution of US tap water with more than 320 chemical contaminants, including industrial chemicals and farm-related pollutants.
Syngenta moving to settle thousands of lawsuits claiming paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease
By Carey Gillam
Besieged by thousands of lawsuits alleging that its paraquat weedkiller causes Parkinson’s disease, Syngenta has entered into an agreement aimed at settling large swaths of those claims.
The company and lead counsel for thousands of plaintiffs have “entered into a signed Letter Agreement intended to resolve” the litigation, an April 14 court filing states.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs confirmed the settlement but declined to answer questions about the details.
“Public details of the settlement will be available for counsel and their clients once the process is finalized,” a team of plaintiffs’ lawyers said in a statement.
In a court hearing Tuesday, one of the lead plaintiff lawyers, Khaldoun Baghdadi, said the terms of the settlement should be completed within 30 days. He said further trial planning proceedings should be delayed.
Syngenta confirmed that it has “settled certain claims” related to paraquat, but said in a statement that it continues to believe that there is “no merit” to the claims.
Litigation “can be distracting and costly,” the company said. “Entering into the agreement in no way implies that paraquat causes Parkinson’s Disease or that Syngenta has done anything wrong. We stand by the safety of Paraquat. Despite decades of investigation and more than 1,200 epidemiological and laboratory studies of paraquat, no scientist or doctor has ever concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific analysis that paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease. This view is endorsed in science-based reviews by regulatory authorities, such as in the US, Australia and Japan.”
Unsafe sleeping? Mattresses may expose children to toxins as they sleep, studies find
By Shannon Kelleher
While monsters under the bed may be just childhood fantasy, parents might have real reason to fear what’s lurking in their children’s mattresses.
These mattresses can contain a variety of toxic chemicals including flame retardants and substances called “plasticizers” that make materials softer and more flexible, exposing kids and babies as they sleep to harmful emissions linked to issues with cognitive function, asthma, cancer and other health problems, according to new peer-reviewed research.
In a study published April 15 in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters, scientists detected over two dozen phthalates, flame retardants, and UV-filter chemicals (which protect materials from sunlight) in 25 Canadian children’s bedrooms, with the highest levels in the air around the beds where the children slept.
A related study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology pointed to mattresses as the likely source, finding emissions of 21 semi-volatile organic compounds in 16 newly purchased children’s mattresses when the researchers simulated a child’s body weight and temperature.
While the testing took place with mattresses purchased in Canada, it seems likely that mattresses in the US would contain similar chemicals of concern, since the countries use some of the same brands and likely rely on some of the same suppliers, said Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute and an author of one of the studies.
The findings “underscore the role of children’s mattresses as a significant source” of these chemicals in children’s sleeping environments and are “particularly concerning given the substantial amount of time children spend sleeping each day, their tendency for higher exposures and increased susceptibility to harm due to their developmental stage,” the authors write.
US butterfly population in peril, declined 22% in two decades
By Olivia Cohen, The Gazette
As coordinator of the Iowa Butterfly Monitoring Network, Nathan Brockman was not surprised at recent headlines showing butterfly population numbers across the country in steep decline.
From 2000 to 2020, butterfly populations fell by 22% across about 554 species, a group of 33 authors from nonprofits, universities, and state and federal agencies recently reported. Habitat loss, a warming climate and chemical use in agriculture are among the factors.
Brockman, who was not involved in the study, estimates that the number of butterfly species found in Iowa today is around 110, down from about 125 when he counted two decades prior.
“Decline in insects is something we’ve known for a while,” he said. “That’s what I’ve seen, without even sitting down looking at the data.”
Although the researchers found that at the species level some butterfly populations increased, 13 times more species declined than increased in population between 2000 and 2020. The research also found that two-thirds of the species examined showed declines of 10% or more. Abundance of some species shrunk by up to 95%.
The researchers pulled data from more than 76,000 surveys, using 12.6 million records of individual butterflies from different monitoring programs across the country.
“I think that widespread declines are really concerning and probably indicative that other things besides butterflies are also declining,” said Elise Zipkin, director of the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior program at Michigan State University.
Thousands of US water systems show dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals
By Carey Gillam
Millions of people across the United States could be drinking water contaminated with dangerous levels of substances created when utilities disinfect water tainted with animal manure and other pollutants, according to a report released Thursday.
An analysis of testing results from community water systems in 49 states found that nearly 6,000 such systems serving 122 million people recorded an unsafe level of chemicals known as trihalomethanes at least once during testing from 2019 to 2023.
The chemicals are byproducts created when chlorine or other disinfectants used by water systems interact with organic matter, such as decaying leaves, vegetation, human or animal waste and other substances. One or more of these chemicals – chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform – have been linked to various human health risks, including cancers. As a result, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a maximum allowable annual average level of 80 parts per billion (ppb) for what the agency calls “total trihalomethanes” or TTHMs. The rule, which applies to public water systems, has been in place for more than two decades.
Texas water systems had the highest prevalence of water systems with unsafe levels of TTHMs, with more than 700 such systems serving over 8.6 million people reporting the contaminants above the EPA’s 80 ppb, according to the report issued April 10 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
New York, Oklahoma, California and Illinois followed Texas with hundreds of water systems in each of those states showing higher-than-allowed levels of TTHMs during the testing period, the EWG report found. More than 64.5 million people are served by 3,170 systems in the ten states that had the most violations.
RFK Jr. directs CDC to stop promoting fluoridation; EPA will re-assess practice
By Douglas Main
Citing health concerns, newly appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week that he will direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending that states add fluoride to their water, and will convene a federal taskforce of independent health experts to study the health risks presented by the practice while establishing a new “optimal” level.
The comments came as Kennedy spoke alongside Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at a news conference in Utah on Monday. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox finalized a law banning water fluoridation on March 21, a move that Kennedy praised.
“In the era of fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwash, it makes no sense to have fluoride in our water,” Kennedy said at the event. “The evidence against fluoride is overwhelming.”
The EPA said in a press release that it will “expeditiously review new scientific information on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water.” In the release, Zeldin said when the review is completed, the agency will have “an updated foundational scientific evaluation” to inform its actions on the issue.
“Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue,” Zeldin said in the press release. “His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks.”
Though more than 70% of the US population receives fluoridated public water supplies and many medical professionals support the practice, opposition has been growing following the publication of several studies suggesting fluoride may have neurotoxic effects on fetuses and young children.
As Kennedy noted, there is an apparent linear relationship between fluoride exposure and IQ loss, according to the most exhaustive meta-analysis of data on the topic, performed by government scientists and published in January in JAMA Pediatrics.
Analysis raises concerns about potential misuse of atrazine weedkiller in US Midwest
By Douglas Main
Corn growers across Midwestern states appear to be flouting regulations aimed at protecting important waterways from contamination with toxic atrazine weedkiller, according to an analysis of satellite imagery and field data that comes as US regulators ponder changes to rules for use of the pesticide.
The analysis, which was conducted by an agricultural industry consultant in Illinois and shared with The New Lede, found what could potentially be thousands of violations by farmers in Illinois and neighboring states. The analysis honed in on geographic points where farm fields planted by corn growers are seen closely abutting waterways, and assumes that farmers sprayed their crops with atrazine, a common practice in the US Midwest.
Though it could not be determined if atrazine was used on the fields, the chemical is applied to the majority of corn acres in the state, and the satellite images show clear pathways for the flow of farm chemicals off the fields and into waters. Critics say the information exposes critical problems with current regulation of atrazine, which is known to pose an array of health risks to humans and animals and is considered a dangerous water contaminant.
The images and supporting data from the analysis were submitted this week to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), which also obtained the information from the consultant, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Though the analysis identified areas of concern in multiple states, it focuses on Illinois, the nation’s No. 2 corn-producing state. In just three counties of Illinois, and along key lakes that provide drinking water for the state, the analysis shows nearly 1,000 parcels of land where farmers planted corn and soybeans right up against rivers and streams and lakes, within required buffer zones where spraying atrazine is not allowed. (Farmers in the Midwest typically rotate planting corn and soy.)
A satellite image shows surface runoff from an Illinois farm field channeling into gullies and flowing into a stream, one of the areas where it would be improper to spray atrazine.
Overall, there were more than 1,420 individual sites on the parcels of land where cropped area was less than the required 66 feet from the nexus where runoff enters streams or rivers, according to the analysis. There were more than 100 parcels with crops planted closer than the 200-foot margin required as a no-spray zone along the edges of drinking water lakes and reservoirs. These buffer zones, or setbacks, are spelled out on atrazine’s label.
Amid EPA upheaval, states fear losing strong federal limits on PFAS in drinking water
By Shannon Kelleher
With the looming possibility that the Trump administration could reduce federal limits on toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water, public health advocates are warning that people across the country would suffer.
Concerns for the future of the federal limits come amid ongoing litigation over the federal limits on six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. A 60-day stay on the litigation granted in February ends Tuesday, after which the Trump administration could seek to make changes to the standards, which were put into place a year ago under the Biden administration.
The Biden-era rule requires public water systems to complete initial monitoring for the PFAS chemicals by 2027, and to implement technologies for reducing PFAS in their water by 2029 if levels exceed the limit.
The nation’s first legally enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water include limits of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). PFOA has been classified as carcinogenic and PFOS has been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans by an international cancer research group.
The rule has drawn widespread opposition from public utilities, which could face substantial costs for implementing new technologies, and penalties for failing to do so.
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) sued the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last June contending that the EPA broke the law when it established the limits.
The groups argue that the agency violated the Safe Drinking Water Act by cutting the rulemaking process short and failed to consider critical data.
“Plastics addiction” is killing us, experts say, but hope remains
By Douglas Main
Plastics are negatively impacting our health in shocking ways, with the problem growing worse over time amid lax government regulations, a group of scientists and policy experts warned on Thursday.
“We have, I think, a plastics addiction,” said Shanna Swan, a professor and epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a livestreamed conference hosted by Moms Clean Air Force.
“The regulatory system is broken, in the way it fails to protect us,” Swan said.
Plastic contamination harms everybody, the panelists said: Microplastics have been found in human organs, plastics additives are linked to heart disease and death, and air pollution from manufacturing causes respiratory illness and contributes to climate change. These issues are all particularly urgent now as the Trump Administration slashes rules and agencies meant to protect people from plastic-associated air and water pollution.
US Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from western Pennsylvania who spoke at the event, announced the launch of an environmental justice caucus in Congress that will aim to address harms caused by plastics manufacturing and pursue solutions.
During the conference, leaders from various fields said key challenges include accurately communicating the science showing harm to the public, getting money and political influence from fossil fuel companies out of politics, and electing leaders who act in the interest of public health.
Postcard from California: Trump vs. the delta smelt
The most powerful man in the world is waging war on a tiny, almost extinct fish.
The fish is the minnow-like delta smelt, less than three inches long with a lifespan of only a year. Its sole natural habitat is the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – a marshy maze of more than 1,100 miles of waterways, levees and islands where its namesake rivers intertwine.
The smelt is a federally protected threatened species, a state endangered species and a key indicator species for the overall health of the Delta, a crucial migration corridor for Pacific salmon and steelhead trout.
It is under attack by President Trump, who blames the “essentially worthless fish” for restrictions on the flow of water from the Delta to Central Valley farms and Southern California cities.
The smelt’s survival depends on keeping enough fresh river water in the Delta to balance the salty seawater drifting in from San Francisco Bay. Until it was declared endangered in 2009, triggering flow limits, few people other than California water wonks had heard of it.
It has become a flashpoint in the California water wars – the never-ending debate over the best use of a scarce resource in a state burdened with recurrent drought, wildfires, and the climate crisis.
Now Trump is seizing control of the debate – regulations and the truth be damned.