Written By: Bridget Lin
Access to clean water is essential to health and a fundamental human right. However, the unfortunate truth is that communities cannot always rely on government officials and agencies to protect this right. A lack of proper regulation and strict oversight leads to the contamination of our nation’s water sources and disproportionately impacts vulnerable minority and lower-class communities. However, water quality, including heavy metal contamination, is often “invisible” to the human eye and goes unnoticed (3). It is essential to shed light on these issues in order to make a tangible change in the world of public health.
What are Heavy Metals and How Do They Get in our Water?
Heavy metals are elements that have an atomic weight of at least 5 times more than that of water (6). Their applications in agriculture, technology, industry, and more are only increasing as urbanization and industrialization continue to be on the rise. Events that lead to heavy metals entering the environment include (6):
Emissions from industrial activity (e.g. mining, smelting)
Corrosion of metal pipe materials
Inadequate filtration devices
Industrial effluents
Pesticides
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for ten metals or metalloids in public drinking water systems, but if heavy metals do end up making their way into drinking water, they can pose serious health risks, even in small amounts. These result in both chronic and acute intoxications that include (1):
Carcinogenic effects
Heart disease and other cardiovascular damage
Damage to the central nervous system and cognitive development
Reproductive disorders
Renal failure
Anemia
Anosmia (loss of smell)
A Recent Study
A recent study published on April 1, 2022, in the Lancet journal highlights the urgency to address the lack of access to clean water (5). Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health tested concentrations of metals in 37,915 community water systems (CWSs). Various metals include arsenic, antimony, cadmium, mercury, and uranium among others. Of the 37,915 CWSs tested, two-thirds of them contained uranium (5). Researchers (5) note that uranium is “an under-recognized contaminant in CWSs,” but previous studies have shown that even in small concentrations, exposure to uranium exposure increases the risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, kidney damage, and lung cancer (2). The study also revealed that the “75th and 95th percentile concentrations for uranium, chromium, barium, and selenium were highest for CWSs serving Semi-Urban, Hispanic communities” (5). This is not an isolated result. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published findings in 2020 that showed that “at the county level, as people of color, low-income people, non-native English speakers, and crowded conditions and/or sparse access to transportation increased, the rate of drinking water violations also increased” (4). We see that marginalized communities have historically been victims of environmental injustice. Structural racism, poor infrastructure, limited resources, and more all work in conjunction to perpetuate socioeconomic inequalities when it comes to access to safe drinking water.
Now What?
Findings like these are a call to action. But what should be done to shed light on this “invisible” water crisis?
Continued research: Increased funding for research would lead to a better understanding of issues at hand as well as solutions to increase access to clean drinking water. This sort of research will also help identify the communities most at risk and bring attention to the need to mitigate environmental injustice.
Legislation: It is essential that we strengthen and develop methods for better enforcement of existing legislation, such as The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund statute, Clean Water Act, and Safe Drinking Water Act. Lawmakers should also pass more strict regulations to ensure that people have access to safe drinking water and to prevent contamination from the source.
Improve infrastructure: Contamination of drinking water often results from a lack of proper infrastructure. It is essential that Congress and state legislatures increase funding for infrastructure improvement projects in order to proactively prevent contamination. Officials also need to especially fund projects in neglected communities that have been disproportionately impacted.
References:
Chowdhury, S., Mazumder, M. A. J., Al-Attas, O., & Husain, T. (2016). Heavy metals in drinking water: Occurrences, implications, and future needs in developing countries. Science of The Total Environment, 569-570, 476–488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.166
Columbia University. (2022, April 6). Uranium detectable in two-thirds of U.S. Community Water System. Search the website. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/uranium-detectable-two-thirds-us-community-water-system-monitoring-records
Damania, R. (2022, March 9). The invisible water crisis. Brookings. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2019/09/16/the-invisible-water-crisis/#:~:text=As%20the%20climate%20changes%2C%20the,is%20both%20consumed%20and%20polluted
Fedinick, K. P., Wu M., Olson E.D., (2021, November 16). Watered down justice. NRDC. Retrieved April 16, 2022, from https://www.nrdc.org/resources/watered-down-justice
Ravalli, F., Yu, Y., Bostick, B. C., Chillrud, S. N., Schilling, K., Basu, A., Navas-Acien, A., & Nigra, A. E. (2022). Sociodemographic inequalities in uranium and other metals in community water systems across the USA, 2006–11: A cross-sectional study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00043-2
Tchounwou, P. B., Yedjou, C. G., Patlolla, A. K., & Sutton, D. J. (2014). Heavy metal toxicity and the environment. Experientia Supplementum, 133–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8340-4_6
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