Welcome to our October Newsletter!
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~~Happy Halloween~~
Wishing you a night of frights and a bag full of delights!
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In this Edition
West Virginia Chemical Spill of 2014
What are VOC's
Uranium in Well Water
Industry News
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West Virginia Chemical Spill of 2014
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Do you ever wonder if your public drinking water is safe? There are many assurances that are put into place that gives us consumer confidence knowing our public water sources are safe for consumption. What happens when something goes seriously wrong? Unfortunately water contamination is a real and scary occurrence but thankfully not very common, but when it happens it usually reaches a national stage.
In January 2014, approximately 10,000 gallons of the chemical MCHM
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used to process coal, spilled from a corroded storage tank into the Elk River in West Virginia. The Elk River is a municipal water source which serves about 300,000 people in the Charleston area.
MCHM has a unique smell of licorice, which is present at extremely small amounts in parts per billion and is classified as a nonhazardous chemical. However, following the spill people were turning up in emergency rooms with severe rashes, headaches, nausea, vomiting, eye irritations and several other health issues. After the cleanup was over and the water was declared safe to drink, the smell of licorice was still coming from their faucets. This made residents in the watershed uncertain about the safety of their drinking water, which in turn, lead to a yearlong study to gain more knowledge of any long-term or short-term human health effects. The U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted this study. To read their full findings click here.
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/research/areas/wvspill/wv_finalupdate_july2016_508.pdf
There are many chemicals in use today that have not been fully studied to understand the implications to human health in the event of a spill causing contamination to our water. If you ever suspect contamination test your water or reach out to your local water district to ensure your safety.
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VOCs are contained in a wide variety of commercial, industrial and residential products including fuel oils, gasoline, solvents, cleaners and degreasers, paints, inks, dyes, refrigerants and pesticides. People are most commonly exposed to VOCs through the air, in food, through skin contact, and potentially in drinking water supplies.
In high levels it may be harmful to the central nervous system, the kidneys or the liver. VOCs may also cause irritation when they contact the skin, or may irritate mucous membranes if they are inhaled. Some VOCs are known or suspected carcinogens (or cancer-causers).
For some VOCs, temporary measures may include boiling the water while venting the steam outside, using bottled water, connecting to an uncontaminated neighboring well, or installing a home treatment system. Testing your private well water for VOCs and petroleum products is indicated if the water has the taste or odor of gasoline or other fuels. Wells should also be tested if they are within 500 to 1000 feet of a former or existing gasoline service station, or other fuel tanks.
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When thinking of uranium, things like nuclear power plants and military weapons may come to mind, but did you know uranium can be found right under our feet? Uranium is a naturally occurring element which can be found in the granite that lies deep below the soil. And while the uranium in our bedrock has a much smaller and weaker amount of radioactivity than uranium used in nuclear reactors, you still wouldn’t want it in your drinking water.
Since uranium is in our granite, it can be found in drilled wells that penetrate the bedrock. The uranium can exit the bedrock and enter the groundwater. Because of this, it is possible for wells to be contaminated with uranium. It is less common to see it in shallow dug wells, but uranium can still be present in soil in smaller amounts. Since it can be found in the soil, it isn’t uncommon for food to have very small amounts of uranium as well.
Uranium is considered a heavy metal and even though most of the element is eliminated from the body when consumed, traces can be absorbed by the blood stream and carried to places like the kidneys or bones, where it can remain for several years. This can cause bone cancer and kidney disease over time. Uranium can not be absorbed through the skin, and can only enter the body through ingestion. It is tasteless and odorless, so the only way to tell if it is in a water supply is by testing.
The NH Department of Health and Human Services conducted a Biomonitoring study over the course of 2 years, where residents in targeted towns (towns that have a history of uranium contamination) as well as a comparison town (where residents are on public water and do not risk consuming contaminated water) volunteered to submit a water sample from their homes, as well as urine samples. The results varied, but the average uranium level in the urine samples increased based on the amount of tap water the residents in the target areas were drinking. Residents with higher levels of uranium in their water, and were drinking 4 or more cups of their own water, had higher levels in their urine than those in the comparison area.
The EPA has currently set a maximum contaminant limit of 30ppb (parts per billion) because of the potential for health hazards. It is not uncommon to see results come in well over this limit in Maine & New Hampshire. It is recommended by both Maine & New Hampshire for private well owners to test for uranium every 3- 5 years, or yearly as a follow up if previous results have been high, and if treatment has been installed.
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NEWS THROUGHOUT OUR INDUSTRY
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